40 Years Ago
by Whisper In the Wind89
Summary: 40yrs ago Karakura town was destroyed by an Espada. Now, the Espada returns to destroy Karakura Town and the world. Ichigo batltes him, but loses. A mysterious person arrives and defeats the Espada. Who? TatsukiIchigo. Full Summary inside. Complete.
1. First Encounter

More indepth Summary:

40 years ago the little town of Karakura was set a blazing into flames. Everyone watched as their lives burnt down with each building turning to ash. Now in present time, Ichigo was sitting in class when all of a sudden he felt the presense of a hollow nearby. Just like that, Orihime, Uryuu, Chad, Rukia, and Ichigo all left. Unknown to them, Tatsuki decided to follow along. When they arrive they noticed that instead of a hollow, it is actually a group of Menos Grandes. So one-by-one they each took down the Menos. Just when they were about to finish off the last few, one of the Menos began to devour the others and become an Espada. The group try to defeat this new enemy, but to no avail. Just when things looked bleak a mysterious person emerged and easily defeated the Espada, who vowed to return again. Rukia begins investigating who the young man was. Meanwhile Tatsuki begins an investigation of her own, what is Ichigo?

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The fire blazed throughout the town. Helicopters and fire trucks did their best just to keep the fire from spreading to the other city. Everyone watched in awe as the flames burned the town they used to call home. Fire fighters continued to struggle as they tried to keep the flames isolated in the town. The weather man said rain was coming in the next few days. If they could keep the fire within the city, the rain would take care of the rest.

By the time the fire engulfed about a fourth of the town, everyone was in the midst of evacuating the town. All emergency personnel rushed throughout the city rescuing as many people as they could from burning buildings. Many were rescued, some were not. Some people watched in shock while others cried for their missing loved ones who were trapped in the scorching buildings.

The sounds of fire trucks and ambulances echoed throughout the blazing city. A young little boy watched a different scene unfold before him. His eyes followed the whole reason the fight started in the city of Karakura. Two shinigamis fought endlessly throughout the burning city. No one could see them because they were spirits. Only the little boy about the age of five had the ability to see them as they flew around clashing their swords together.

Night time fell on the little town of Karakura. The distant sound of thunder filled the air. The sound brought a new sense of hope as fire fighters continued to battle the roaring flames. It wasn't long until the sky began to cry over the lost city.

The next day everyone awoke to the sight of their town burnt to the ground. Everyone was in disbelief at what they saw. Everything was destroyed. Nothing was left standing. Roads were covered with fallen buildings and debris. The rain continued to fall…

"ICHIGO!!! WAKE UP!" A loud crash echoed throughout the house. Isshin's face was smashed in from Ichigo's foot being planted in it. Ichigo growled lightly as he got out of bed. He ran his hand through his head as he stood up and stretched his arms. His father quickly got up and rubbed his face.

"Owie! I think you really did damage something that time." Isshin said as he rubbed his nose. Ichigo looked away for a moment before…

"YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN!" he yelled as he landed one good punch on Ichigo's cheek. Ichigo flew out of the room and through his now broken door. Isshin laughed as he ran down the steps. Ichigo slowly rose to his feet as Rukia quickly jumped out of the closet.

"You're dad is quite the character." She said as she closed the door.

"Shut up." Ichigo said as he walked into his room. "Just hurry up and get out of here in case he decides to come back." Rukia slid open the window and jumped out as Ichigo fumbled through his dresser for his school clothes. He took off his shirt and threw it on the ground. Just as he turned to grab something, Rukia jumped back into the window. They stood there for many minutes staring each other down. Then Ichigo broke the silence with a loud whisper.

"What are you doing?!" He quickly grabbed a shirt and put it around his body.

"Calm down." She said. "It's not like I haven't seen it all before." She gave him a mischievous smirk.

"What are you talking about?" He raised his voice as a light blush formed on his face. She began to chuckle as she walked up to him. She placed a hand on his chest and ran it down his stomach.

"Ru-Rukia?" He managed to spit out. This caused her to laugh even harder as she opened the closet door and grab her purse. Ichigo was still slightly shocked as she hopped up onto the window getting ready to jump out.

"Don't take it personally Kurosaki. But I like playing around with ya. It makes you do funny things. See you at school!" And with that she disappeared from his sights. Ichigo quickly hopped to his window and locked it. Just as he was walking away, he quickly turned around and closed the drapes. He muttered something under his breath before he headed to school.

When he arrived at school, Ichigo walked into the classroom and took a seat at his desk. The teacher had not come in yet and many of the students were in their individual groups talking about plans for the weekend. Ichigo sat in his seat and put his book bag down next to him.

He glared over at Rukia menacingly as she gave him a big smile. Just then the school bell rang and the students took their seats. Many of the students continued to talk and laugh until the teacher came in. The students quieted down as the teacher went over the lesson for the day. Ichigo stared out the window letting his thoughts wander away.

While she took her notes, Tatsuki happened to glance over at Ichigo and notice he wasn't paying attention to the teacher.

'Wonder what's with him?' She thought to herself. She quickly returned her attention back to the teacher and her notebook. When the bell for lunch rang, Ichigo quickly grabbed his lunch and ran out the door. Tatsuki found it strange for Ichigo to just run out like that. She looked around and noticed that everyone found that to be odd.

Just then Chad, Orihime, Uryu, and Rukia ran out the door as well. Everyone watched as they rushed out the door. Tatsuki decided to chase after them and see what was going on. She followed them even as they ran out the school doors and off the school property. She didn't care.

For the past few weeks the five of them would run off to do something and leave Tatsuki in the dark. And when they came back, they never told her what they did. Ichigo and Rukia avoided the question altogether. Even Orihime made up a story every time she asked. It infuriated her to the point where she could no longer take it. As they ran, Chad's arms transformed and Uryu's outfit changed into his Quincy clothes. His bow suddenly appeared in his right hand as they neared the park. Rukia swallowed a mod-soul pill causing her soul to leap from her gigai. She drew her Zanpaktou and began a small chant. Tatsuki could not believe what transpired before her eyes.

When they caught up with Ichigo, the group was confronted by a group of menos grandes. Ichigo held Zangetsu firmly in his hands as he looked around at the menos' that hovered before him.

"What's going on here?" Rukia asked to herself. "Why are all these menos' here like this?" Ichigo drew his sword as the white cloth unraveled itself and wrapped around Ichigo's hand.

"I don't know why they are all together like this. But, they don't belong here!" Ichigo jumped into the air and slashed at a Menos. Once that one disappeared the rest of the menos spread around and created a circle around the group. Everyone looked around as the Menos' roars echoed throughout the town. Tatsuki hid behind a building watching as these tall dark mysterious figures surrounded her friends. Her attention switched back and forth to the Menos and then to her friends.

"Alright guys, let's do this!" Ichigo jumped into the air and swung at one of the Menos. The rest of the group began to attack the other ones. Rukia jumped into the air and held her Zanpaktou high above her head.

"Sodo No Shirayuki first dance, white moon!" Rukia yelled. Suddenly the three Menos that stood in front of her were engulfed in a sheet of ice. Once they were completely frozen, Rukia slashed at the ice and destroyed in and the Menos inside. She landed on her two feet and turned to watch everyone else battle. Uryu shot his arrows from his bow into two Menos Grandes. As they disappeared, he also landed on his feet and turned around. He watched Orihime's little guardians as they created their shield protecting her from the Menos' attacks.

Just then Tsubaki shot himself into the Menos, destroying it as he passed through its mask. Orihime jumped up in happiness as her companions celebrated with her. Uryu had a small smile come across his face as he watched Orihime smile and laugh with her companions.

"You know you can't keep watching her from afar." Uryu felt someone nudging their elbow into his side. When he looked down, he saw Rukia giving him a look. Uryu blushed lightly as he pushed his glasses up so they do not fall off his nose. Then he tried to shrug it off as though he did not know what she meant.

"Stop trying to hide it." She said with a coy smile. "Almost everyone in school knows about your feelings for Orihime."

"What are you talking about?" Uryu said. The blush on his face grew a little bigger on his cheeks. Rukia started to giggle as she laughed at his reaction.

Sado evaded the Menos that attacked him he had two of them trying to catch him with their blasts. He blocked both of their attacks with his left arm. Suddenly his right arm transformed. The top of his arm had a bigger u-shape curve. A distorted face formed where his shoulder bone was at. It let out a loud sad moan into the air as the two Menos attacked him.

Sado drew his arms back as he created distance from them. Just then the distorted moan from his arm turned into a roar as he unleashed the power from his attack. Both of the Menos were completely devoured by the blast. After the beam disappeared, the Menos were no longer there. His right opened up and gathered the power of the Menos into its mouth. Sado grew stronger after he completely absorbed their power. Everyone gathered together and watched as Ichigo fought the remaining Menos.

One by one the rest of the Menos fell victim to Ichigo's blade. Ichigo took each down one by one. Just then something odd occurred. One of the Menos began to devour the Menos before Ichigo could kill them. Ichigo was surprised as the Menos devoured the last one.

Just then the air drew thicker than normal and the air was filled with a tremendous amount of Reiatsu. The group struggled to stand as the Reiatsu grew heavy on their bodies. Ichigo jumped back as he lifted Zangetsu to point at the Menos. Suddenly a bright blue aura surrounded him as he yelled, "Bankai!" His outfit and Zanpaktou changed.

Tatsuki hid behind a dumpster watching Ichigo transform no more than 20 feet away from her. The impact of his sudden Reiatsu gain was so overwhelming; she fell to the ground under the immense pressure. She struggled to push herself off the ground, but it was no use. The force was too strong for her to overcome.

The newly formed Espada stood in mid-air staring down at Ichigo in his Bankai. Tatsuki lifted her head up as far as she could only to catch a glimpse of Ichigo's change. His Reiatsu was so strong compared to her newly awaken powers, that she could not pry herself off from the ground.

When Ichigo jumped into the air, the pressure on her lightened and she was able to pull her self up to a vertical base. Her whole body ached from trying to keep Ichigo's Reiatsu from crushing her. She leaned on the wall to give her legs some support. She took deep breaths trying to regain her strength. She slowly crawled on the wall of the building to the end of the alley. Her legs were still weak as she wobbled out onto the street. She looked up at the sky, watching Ichigo battle with the Espada.

Ichigo swung away as the Espada dodged every attack with ease. Ichigo began to get frustrated. The Espada just stood there smiling as Ichigo began to raise his Reiatsu. He lifted Zangetsu high above his head.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo yelled. The Espada smiled as he raised his hand and easily flung Ichigo's attack away from him. Ichigo, as well as the rest of the group, could not believe his eyes. He wiped the look off his face and tried his attack again. This time the Espada disappeared and reappeared behind Ichigo. Ichigo's eyes widened as he jumped forward and quickly turned his body.

The Espada began to laugh as he stood there with his hands on his hips. Ichigo became irritated by this and tried his Getsuga Tensho again. The Espada lifted his hand and held onto the crimson blast. Then he tossed it aside like it was nothing. Ichigo backed away as he stared down this being that make his attack look like nothing. Suddenly the Espada began to power up. His Reiatsu surged throughout the town. Everyone who had the ability to sense Reiatsu felt this power.

"Mr. Urahara?" Ururu asked. "Is something not right, sir?" Urahara looked up at the sky with a grave look on his face. Ururu walked up to Urahara's side and tugged lightly on his Kimono. He looked down at her and placed a hand on his head.

"It doesn't look good Ururu. This is one opponent I think Ichigo can't beat." He looked back up at the sky and watched as the Espada began his attack. Ichigo moved to the side to avoid the Espada's first attack, but wasn't able to evade the second attack. Ichigo wrapped his arms around his stomach as he began to cough up blood.

Suddenly Urahara's eyes widened as he turned around. He looked down the street away from the fighting. A surprised expression came across his face. Then it changed to a small grin as he turned around and walked back into his shop.

"Mr. Kisuke, sir?" Ururu asked before he took a step inside.

"Come along Ururu. The fight is almost over." The young girl with the red cheeks followed Urahara back into the store. Once Urahara was inside, he went to his telephone and dialed a number. He placed the receiver to his ear and waited for the other party to pick up the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me." Urahara said.

"What's up?" The voice responded.

"…He's back."

"Are you sure about that?"

Urahara responded, "Yeah. I'm very sure. With that type of Reiatsu, I'm very sure he's back." They talked some more on the phone before Urahara put the phone back. Then he took a step outside and jumped up onto one of the buildings. He sat cross legged and watched the rest of the fight transpire. Ichigo stood in mid-air catching his breath as the Espada stood there with an evil grin on his face.

"It's been so long." The Espada said out of nowhere. "My spirit has been trapped in Hueco Mundo for so long." His voice was rough and low. Ichigo did not feel like standing around and listening to him talk. He began his attack once more. The Espada looked up and raised his hand towards Ichigo. Within a blink of an eye, Ichigo crashed into the ground below. The group all ran next to Ichigo who slowly got to his feet breathing hard. Uryu looked up at the Espada and rose to his feet. Orihime looked up at Uryu who was now walking away from the group and towards the Espada.

Uryu raised his arm toward it and formed his bow. Within a blink of an eye, he shot 10 arrows from his bow at the Espada. Just as they were about to hit it, the Espada raised his hand and swatted each arrow away like it was nothing. Uryu, in a sense of desperation, began to shoot arrows from different spots in the park all at once. He would appear at one corner of the park and shoot a couple. Then within that split second he disappears only to reappear at the other end to shoot more arrows.

He stopped for a moment to look up. Everyone else watched hoping the arrows would hit. A big explosion filled the air when the arrows were close to the Espada. Smoke covered the sky as everyone waited in anticipation. Everyone was shocked as the smoke cleared and the Espada was still standing there with that evil grin on his face.

"Time to end this." It said in a menacing tone. "You youngsters can't defeat me!" He raised his hand into the air and began to draw energy around him. Suddenly a dark blue ball of power hovered in his hand. It grew bigger and bigger until it was almost as big as a baseball field. Everyone gasped as they saw how huge the energy ball was.

"Wave of Destruction! Bring despair to all who oppose you" Just then the Espada drew his arm back and threw it towards them. The ball moved slowly due to the massive size of it. Uryu quickly shot out a huge amount of arrows towards the blast, but they were devoured by the blast. Chad quickly got up and sent a blast from his arm, but it didn't even phase the attack. Both Inoue and Rukia used their attacks at the same time, but to no avail. Suddenly Ichigo rose to his feet and jumped into the air. He took Zangetsu and struck the ball of energy with it. Just then he yelled, "Getsuga Tensho!" The ball of energy slowed down, but did not stop. It engulfed his attack and grew stronger.

Suddenly Ichigo was shot away by the Espada and began to spiral downward towards the ground. The ball of energy was getting closer now. Its power was so strong that the buildings around it started disintegrating. Tatsuki watched in horror as it grew closer and closer.

"Quickly everyone let's all attack it at once!" Uryu shouted at the group. Rukia and Chad glanced over at him and nodded.

"Inoue we'll need you to keep a shield up in case this doesn't work." Orihime agreed as she called upon her little fairy like protectors to form a big energy shield around them. Rukia began to say a chant as she held her ice-type Zanpaktou in front of her. Chad drew back his Diablo arm and began to gather attack energy in his fist. His left arm began to howl as its mouth opened to absorb energy particles from around him. Uryu did likewise as he gathered the energy around him into an arrow. Ichigo held Zangetsu at his side to ready his attack.

"Alright? Ready… Aim… FIRE!!!" Uryu yelled.

"Second Dance, White Ripple!"

Chad unleashed the energy from his left arm toward the energy ball.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Uryu shot his arrow along with everyone's attack.

The attacks went right to the energy and caused a massive explosion in the air. The sky was filled with a huge amount of Reiatsu and smoke. Urahara looked up. The look of despair never left his face.

_"Hurry."_

The sky was filled with much smoke, as the youngsters waited in anticipation for the outcome of their attack. Just when they thought they had stopped it, the smoke suddenly dispersed and the energy ball still continued its descent onto earth.

They tried again and again, but their combined efforts were in vain. The Espada stood in the sky laughing at their efforts. Their attacks started to slow down as they grew tired from a continuation of releasing their attacks. Everyone was gasping for air falling to their knees in fatigue. Despair began to fill the minds of the group of youngsters. Ichigo slowly rose to his feet and put the last bit of Reiatsu he had left into his attack, but it was no use. He fell to the ground because his legs were too weak to keep him up. Just as the energy ball was about a basketball court length away, Ichigo and the group passed out before it happened.

"Rukeni reign upon the wicked!" A voice yelled from behind Tatsuki. The blast went right to the ball of energy and completely destroyed it. Smoke consumed the skies as the Espada turned and looked at a young man. He stood there with a slight grin on his face while putting his Zanpaktou back into its sheath. Tatsuki snapped out of her trance-like state and quickly turned around.

Within a blink of an eye, the Espada appeared in front of Tatsuki. She fell backwards, eyes wide, as she stared down the backside of the Espada. It stood no more than 3 feet away from her. The young man had a cocky grin on his face which aggravated the Espada.

"Who are you?" The Espada asked. The man stood there silent, still with that grin on his face. Just then he did something that surprised the Espada. The man turned around and began to walk away. This ticked the Espada off as he raised his hand and pointed at the young man. He shot a beam at him, which the young man just flicked off. The Espada grew angry and chased him. Just as he was about to strike, the young man turned around and sliced the Espada's head off.

As the Espada began to disappear, he asked the question once more.

"Who are you?"

"I am just a wandering soul, annoyed by you." a grin came across the face of the Espada

"wandering soul, eh... Well then, Eratu we meet again." The young man glared at the fading Espada. "You got me this time, but I will return."

Just then the Espada completely disappeared. The young man sheathed his Zanpaktou once more and began to walk away. Just as he was about to use Shunpo, he heard a small voice breathing hard, behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw Tatsuki's body lying on the ground. He gave her a small sympathetic smile before he headed on his way. After he left, Tatsuki began to regain her strength. She slowly pushed herself up off the ground. Just then four people appeared in front of her, not noticing Tatsuki at all.

"Looks like we are too late. Aww!" A man said.

"Oh darn. I wanted to see him again. He's so cute." A female said.

"You two are so childish." Another man said.

"How can you say that when you act like that with your kid, every day?" A third man said.

"Hey! Quit being mean." The second man said now looking down at Tatsuki. "Hey wait a minute. I know her." Tatsuki looked up and gasped.


	2. Sunday Friendship

Ichigo opened his eyes to the sun shining through his eye lids. He slowly opened his eyes as the sun shined brightly in the cloudless sky. His window was wide open letting in a small cool breeze. Just as Ichigo raised his hand to cover his eyes, a sharp pain surged through his body. He glanced down and noticed that his arm was tightly wrapped with bandages. It was then he remembered what happened.

His thoughts went back to the point when he was about to pass out. His vision grew blurry and his sense of hearing was fading away. The only thing he could hear the echoing laugh of the Adjucha as it watched from the skies above. His head turned to the side and it felt like the room began spinning. Just then he heard a noise coming from his closet.

The door quickly slid open and Rukia jumped out chanting a binding spell. Suddenly Ichigo's hands and feet were bound together by an invisible force.

"Hey what's the meaning of this?!" Ichigo shouted at her.

"Calm down. I felt your Reiatsu rising and I thought your hollow was coming out." She simply stated. They exchanged yells back and forth while Kon sat on Ichigo's desk watching. Just then the yelling stopped and Ichigo grew silent.

"Rukia, I want to ask you something." He said. "How are we still alive?" Rukia lowered her arms and looked away. Ichigo stared up at the ceiling wondering what happened.

"Someone saved us that day." She simply said. "I don't know who. Ichigo let me ask you something. Why didn't you use your hollow powers to try and stop him?"

"I did try." He quietly said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"When I was fighting the Espada, I was talking to my hollow."

"What did he say?" Ichigo turned his head to look out his window.

"He said it wouldn't matter if I used his power. We were going to die." Rukia's eyes widened with shock when he said those words.

"_Even Ichigo's hollow wasn't a match for that Espada. Yet that guy defeated him with ease. Who is he?"_

Rukia's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. She quickly swung open the closet door and jumped inside, shutting it closed right when Ichigo's little sister Yuzu came in.

"Brother! Brother!" She said trying to catch her breath.

"Slow down Yuzu. What's wrong?" Ichigo said slowly getting out of bed.

"Tatsuki-Chan is here. She says she wants to talk to you." Yuzu said. Ichigo thanked his little sister and then carefully got out of bed. Rukia sat still as Ichigo closed the door behind him. She waited for the sound of his footsteps to fade away. Then she slid open the closet door and quickly jumped out the window.

Rukia landed quietly on the ground and was about to run off when she heard a voice call out to her.

"Where do you think you're going…" Rukia turned around and her eyes widened in shock "…daughter?"

"Hey Tatsuki, how are you?" Ichigo said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The young lady was sitting on the couch staring out the window. She turned her head and gave him a light smile as she gave a small wave as a form of hello.

"I'm doing good." Tatsuki replied. "What happen to you, Ichigo?" She asked the question though she fully knew why Ichigo had all those injuries. Ichigo hesitated for a second trying to think of an excuse.

"Haha, I was running to the stairs and accidentally tripped down the stairs." She gave him a smile for his efforts in concealing the real reason he was injured. Just then Tatsuki did something completely out of character. She walked up to Ichigo and wrapped her arms around him. Ichigo was taken back by this sudden act.

"Tatsuki? Are you ok?" He quietly asked. She tightened her hold on him for a moment before she let go. She looked down for a second before she raised her head. A bigger smile than before was on her face.

"You didn't know? Today is national hug day. You give everyone you know a hug." Tatsuki said. "I stopped by Orihime's house today and gave her one. She invited me to eat some of her black beans and green olives burger with sugared potatoes with whipped cream on top." The thought of the food brought Tatsuki to stop and stick her tongue out. Ichigo lightly chuckled.

"So you ready to go?" Tatsuki asked.

"Hold on let me get my shoes." Ichigo said. One year ago Tatsuki confronted Ichigo after school. She complained that Ichigo and her never hang out together anymore. So Ichigo came up with the idea that every Sunday both him and Tatsuki would hang out together for the whole. So every Sunday of the week, either Tatsuki would go to Ichigo's house or Ichigo went to Tatsuki's house and then they headed out. After Ichigo grabbed his shoes they were both out the door.

Tatsuki's parents bought her a car about three months ago. She uses it to take Orihime and herself to school, take her and Ichigo out when she came over, and run errands she has to attend to. When they got into the car, Tatsuki turned over the engine and they headed off.

When they arrived at the mall, Tatsuki parked the car and they went inside. The first place they went to was the music store. They walked down the rock music aisle flipping through the CDs. Tatsuki picked up a CD and began reading the list of songs on it, while Ichigo slowly wandered off and looked around at the other areas.

Ichigo then wandered off to the movies section of the store. He flipped through the DVDs in the action/adventure occasionally picking up one of them to read the back cover. Tatsuki had on a pair of headphones listening to samples of songs from a CD.

Just then Ichigo picked up a movie and examined the front cover. He examined the cover of the movie with interest. The cover had a young man holding onto the hand of a beautiful young lady, though he was not looking at her. In his other hand he held a sword much like Zangetsu in Bankai form, except this sword had an intense light blue glow to it. He turned it over and read the description.

"Hemu Nasati stars in this action packed film sure to bring a thrill to all who watch. Inigo (Nasati) has been friends with Taskui all his life. But, just recently Inigo has been leading a secret life he does not want anyone to know about. Taskui confronts Inigo one day telling him she knows about his secret life. Suddenly she is kidnapped by one of his enemies and is forced to save her before it is too late." As Ichigo finished reading the back, Tatsuki jumped up and wrapped her arm around his neck.

"What'cha got there huh, Ichigo?" She said, giving Ichigo a light nuggy.

"Hey that hurts!" He yelled at her. She lightly chuckled while Ichigo gave her a little smile.

"You want to watch this later tonight?" Ichigo asked. Tatsuki nodded and he bought the movie. Tatsuki looked it over and then nodded. Ichigo went to the cashier and paid for the movie. After he paid for the movie, Tatsuki paid for some CDs that she wanted to buy. After they left the store, Ichigo and Tatsuki walked around occasionally going into stores to look at some of the things they have.

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's get our picture taken!" Tatsuki said. Ichigo looked down at her in disbelief. Tatsuki had the biggest smile on her face. Ichigo tried to convince her he didn't want to, but in the end gave up and shook his head in defeat

Tatsuki laughed as she accidentally grabbed a hold of Ichigo's bad arm.

"Owie!" He yelled as she led him into the photo booth. Tatsuki put some change into the machine and told Ichigo to make a funny face. He kept saying not to, until he saw himself on the screen. Tatsuki had already made a funny face waiting for the camera to take it. When he saw what she looked like, he couldn't help but laugh at her. They waited until the camera was ready. Though Ichigo didn't want to go in at first when it came time for the pictures to be taken, he also made a funny face.

After the last picture was taken, they stepped outside laughing their gut off. When the pictures finally printed, Tatsuki grabbed them out of the tray and looked them over with Ichigo. They started laughing again as they pointed at each other, stating how goofy they looked. After they finished making fun of themselves, Ichigo took the pictures and put them in his pocket.

"Yo Ichigo, you want to get a bite to eat?" Tatsuki asked. Ichigo agreed and they both contemplated on where to go.

"I have an idea. Let's go to that Teriyaki restaurant." Ichigo said.

"Hey that's a good idea. I've always wanted to try that place out." She said in response. So they gathered their bags and went out to Tatsuki's car. They put their bags into her trunk and got into the car. She drove up to the Restaurant and parked the car in the lot.

When they entered the restaurant, the waiter led them to a booth and asked them what they would like to drink. He gave them two menus and went into the kitchen to get their drinks. Meanwhile, they looked at what the restaurant had to offer on the menu. When the waiter returned, he gave them their drinks and they ordered their food. After the waiter wrote it down, they gave him their menus and he walked into the kitchen.

Ichigo took a small sip from his drink as he looked around. The place was a fairly big establishment. It had about 20 tablets seating 4-5 people in each. There were no windows so the place was lighted entirely by lights. It had one big chandelier in the middle to help reflect some of the lights.

Tatsuki was also looking around. She noticed on every wall panel there stood a man in traditional samurai armor guarding an injured dragon from a horde of demons. The unusual thing about the scene is the fact that the samurai had a black sword in his hand. She also noticed the fact that the dragon had the facial expression of a female dragon.

While they looked around the door opened and in walked two faces, strange to see together, but all too familiar. Uryuu pushed up his glasses to keep them from falling off his face. He held the door open as Orihime walked in looking around the place like a little child.

"Wow this place looks cool!" Orihime said. When Uryuu turned his head he caught glimpse of Tatsuki and Ichigo.

"Shit!" He said to himself. Quickly he grabbed Orihime and dragged her to a booth. He sat her down with her back to them as he sat next to her.

"Ow Uryuu, what was that for?" She asked.

"Don't say anything, but Ichigo and Tatsuki are over there." He whispered to her.

"What?" She turned around and got on her knees to look over the booth divider. When she saw the two of them sitting there laughing a big smile crept up on her face. Uryuu quickly pulled her down so they couldn't see her.

"I didn't know Ichigo and Tatsuki were dating! Wow I can't wait to tell her about this tomorrow." Uryuu nearly died at the idea.

"No no. I don't think we should." Uryuu quickly said waving his hand in front of him.

"Why not Uryuu?" She asked.

"Well you see, I'm not really… ready… to tell everyone about this." He nervously said. Orihime looked at him with a blank expression. His face turned completely tomato red.

"This?" She asked.

"I meant… us… dating." He simply said. Orihime then realized what he meant

"Oh ok" Orihime said. She put on the face that resembled an 8 year old determined expression on her face. "I promise not to say anything to Tatsuki about any of this." Uryuu let out a deep sigh as he tried to slow down his beating heart. Just then someone placed a hand on his shoulder which caused him to nearly jump out of his seat.

After he settled down he looked up only to see the waiter standing there.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he handed them a menu. After Orihime energetically gave him her order, Uryuu stuttered just to say what type of drink he wanted. After the waiter wrote that down he went into the kitchen to grab their drinks. While the waiter was in the kitchen, Uryuu kept looking over at Ichigo and Tatsuki, who were laughing and talking.

"This is unusual." Uryuu said. "I've never seen Ichigo this happy before." The waiter returned and gave their drinks and took their order. Uryuu decided it was going to too obvious looking over his shoulder like that so he quickly switched to the other side of the table. Orihime was too busy making bubbles in her soda to notice his switch.

Just then the waiter came back out and gave their food to Ichigo and Tatsuki. Both of them broke open their chopsticks and began to eat. Uryuu decided to just leave it alone for now and he would ask him about it later. For now he just wanted to enjoy his date with his new girlfriend.


	3. Secrets Revealed

The day was getting late, and the sun started to set.

"Hurry Ichigo we're going to miss it!" Tatsuki yelled at him. Ichigo was running up the steps to Karakura lookout point. It's located in a park just outside of town. From the lookout point, one could get a good view of the sun setting over the horizon. Tatsuki walked to the ledge and looked down at the city below her.

Ichigo finally made it up to the top of the stairs and walked over to where Tatsuki was. He stood next to her and watched as the sun began its descent behind the hills. Little did they know, someone was watching them from the bushes.

"Wow! Ichigo and Tatsuki are together. Wait till everyone in school hears about this." The person said. Just then a branch snapped and they fell out of the tree and all the way down the whole flight of stairs. Ichigo and Tatsuki didn't hear the sound of the constant crashing and yelling, though.

While they stood watching the sun completely disappear, they talked to each other about their past. They reminisced on the memories they had when they were young. They talked about their time learning karate. Ichigo grew a little silent when Tatsuki mentioned his mother. She remembered what happened between then after his mother died. The two nearly became inseparable. Tatsuki looked over Ichigo like a younger brother who lost something very important to him.

Tatsuki's hand slowly moved along the safety rail and over to Ichigo's. As though her body moved on its own, she slowly inched her way over to him. He didn't notice until she put her head on his shoulder. He glanced down for a moment before he wrapped left arm around her. The two shared a blissful moment of silence together before Tatsuki broke it.

"Ichigo…" she began. "I'm glad we're friends. You've been an inspiration to me, Ichigo."

" Really?" He asked. "How?" She was silent for a second. There were many things she wanted to say, but they just would not come out. She stood there smiling as Ichigo stared at her.

"I learned, when we were younger, not to cry when I lose." She gave him a devilish smirk as he frowned. Just then with his left hand he started tickling her side. She tried to break away from him, but he was too quick. She laughed uncontrollably. It wasn't soon until she couldn't take it anymore. Many times she tried to say stop, but the words couldn't come out without her laughing.

Ichigo looked down at her and decided enough was enough. He let go of her and placed his hands on his hip. Tatsuki leaned on the rail catching her breath while Ichigo stood there watching with a small grin on his face. When Tatsuki finally caught her breath the first thing she did was punch Ichigo in the chest hard enough for him to feel it.

"Jerk!" She said ax her fist met his chest. He started laughing lightly as she tried her best to make it look like she was serious. Ichigo played along and kept apologizing to her, though she pretended to not listen to him.

Ichigo smiled as the last of the sun disappeared behind the distant hills. By now Tatsuki forgave him and was standing next to him. The sun had completely disappeared by now. The sky was dark and the stars twinkled in the sky.

"Hey, I just remembered I still have that movie." Ichigo said randomly. Tatsuki completely forgotten about that. They headed down the flight of stairs and into her car. They stopped by a local convenience store and bought popcorn, drinks, and a random assortment of snacks. When they arrived at Ichigo's house, his father was in the kitchen getting a drink from the refrigerator.

"Why are you home so late?!" He said, beginning the same routine he had every time he saw Ichigo. He stood on the other side of the counter as the two of them put the bags of candy down.

"We lost track of time." Tatsuki said, apologetically. Then Isshin noticed Ichigo and Tatsuki were holding hands. A devilish grin came across his face which scared Ichigo.

"Lost track of time eh?" He said through his goofy grin. He looked down at their hands, which prompted Ichigo to do the same. When he noticed his dad was looking at their entwined hands, he quickly let go of Tatsuki's hand and placed the other behind his head. Isshin began to laugh at Ichigo who had an almost unnoticeable blush form across his cheeks.

"No! No! It's not like that!" He said to his dad, who did not listen to him.

"Ichigo my boy! I'm proud of you." Isshin said as he ran to their side of the counter and wrapped his arm around Ichigo's neck. Tatsuki was too busy fumbling through the snacks to notice the two of them.

"You've got it all wrong!" Ichigo tried to say.

"Now I understand it all" Isshin began. "Now I know why you always act differently on Sundays when you go out with Tatsuki! I can't believe you kept this from me for this long you son of a goddess!" Tatsuki now looked over and raised an eyebrow as she watched Isshin pile up on Ichigo. She just let out a loud sigh as she turned around and grabbed the movie.

She took off the plastic and put it in the garbage can. She opened the case and walked over to their DVD player. She turned it on and opened the disc tray. After putting the disc in, she walked back to the counter and grabbed the popcorn. All the while, Ichigo tried to get his father off of him. Just then Yuzu came walking down the stairs rubbing her eyes.

"Why is it so loud down here?" She said sleepily. Isshin looked up as Yuzu let out a big yawn.

"Hey Tatsuki-chan." She said waving her hand. Tatsuki smiled and waved back as Isshin got off of Ichigo.

"I'm sorry my dear, did Ichigo wake you with his loud screaming?"

"HEY!" Ichigo felt a light punch on his back. He turned around to see Tatsuki shaking her head, indicating he should just let it go so, Ichigo did just as the popcorn began to pop. Isshin led Yuzu up the stairs saying something along the lines of bedtime stories and making Ichigo pay.

After they were up the stairs, the microwave beeped, indicating the popcorn was done. Ichigo walked over and took it out and walked to the couch where Tatsuki sat eating a candy bar and drinking her soda. He put the popcorn down on the table and grabbed one of the snacks and opened it.

Tatsuki went over to the telephone and called her house. She talked to her mom, telling her she would be at Ichigo's house watching a movie. After she hung up the phone, she walked back to the couch and reached for the remote. The movie started out as Tatsuki reached and grabbed a few kernels of popcorn. A little way into the movie, Tatsuki shivered lightly. Ichigo noticed this and looked down at her.

"Cold?" He asked. She gave him a small smile as she nodded at him. He got up and walked over to a closet. He slid the door open and grabbed a thick and warm blanket. He returned to the couch and gave the blanket to her. She reached for it and then placed it on herself.

"Hey." He said softly. "I'm cold too. Share that." Tatsuki crawled over to Ichigo and laid down on his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder watching the movie. He grabbed the blanket and adjusted it so that it covered both of them. Under the sheets, Ichigo had his arms wrapped around Tatsuki's waist, holding her so she didn't fall. They laid like this for the rest of the night watching the movie, occasionally grabbing some popcorn or a snack.

Near the end of the movie, the main character watched as another character fought in the final battle against the evil that disrupted the peace. Once the evil was destroyed the main character rushed to save the damsel in distress. At the end of the movie, the main character and the damsel kiss as the sun set over the horizon. End.

Tatsuki sat up and scooted off Ichigo. She stood up and stretched as Ichigo got up and did the same. Afterwards he turned and folded the blanket and set it back down on the couch. Tatsuki grabbed her drink and finished the rest of it before throwing it away. Ichigo went over to the DVD player and turned it and the television off.

Tatsuki began heading towards the door which Ichigo unlocked. He opened the door and stepped outside. Tatsuki followed as he closed the door behind her. He walked her to her car in silence. When they got to the driver side door, Ichigo looked up at her and smiled.

"Well, drive home safely." He said. Then he hugged her tightly, which caught her off guard. She had a light blush on her face, but she did not know why. Was it the fact that Ichigo just randomly hugged her? Or… She shook her head of the thought making Ichigo let go and look down at her.

"What was that for?" Tatsuki said. The blush on her cheeks faded away.

"You didn't know?" Ichigo simply said. Then a smile crept up on his face. "Today is national hug day." Tatsuki laughed at him as she unlocked her door and got into her car. She turned it on and then stepped outside again. Ichigo leaned against her car as she rolled down the window and closed the door.

"Well, I got to go. I told my mom I was going to be home about an hour ago." She chuckled lightly. Ichigo smiled as Tatsuki opened the door and got into her car. She drove off as Ichigo walked back into his house. Tatsuki drove down the street towards her house. Just then instead of taking a left turn which led to her house she made a right turn to a building all too familiar to many.

She parked in front of the building and turned off the engine. She opened the door and took a step out of her car. She looked up at the building and read the sign. Suddenly the front door slid open and a mysterious figure stepped out.

"Thank you for coming, Tatsuki." He said. Tatsuki closed the door to her car and walked forward.

"I assume you want to know everything." Tatsuki nodded as the mysterious figure emerged from the shadows into the light. "My name is Urahara Kisuke. Pleased to meet you. I guess you have a lot of questions. So, what do you want to know?" He asked.

Tatsuki stood there thinking of questions she wanted to ask.

"Oh? Do you not have any questions or som-"

"What is Ichigo?" She said out of nowhere. Urahara was a bit surprised by this sudden outburst. He smiled as he lower his hat.

"Well, Ichigo -"

"…is my son." Urahara looked up as Tatsuki turned around. There in an outfit much like Ichigo's was his father Kurosaki Isshin.

"Shouldn't you be going home miss? I thought your mom was expecting you an hour ago?" Isshin said with a look of disbelief on his face. Tatsuki had a shocked expression, but shook that off with a small smirk.

"I told her I was going to spend the night at your house tonight." Isshin put his hand on his head and shook it. He chuckled lightly as he moved forward.

"Can I get back to my answer, please?" Urahara said. "I believe I was going to tell you what Ichigo is." Tatsuki looked back at him as he took off his and held onto it.

"Anyways, as I was going to say. Ichigo is -"

"A Shinigami. A Death God." A voice said. They all turned towards the store to see Yoruichi standing there. She had a sly grin on her face as she jumped down from the roof and emerged into the light. All these people, Tatsuki saw the day the Espada attacked.

"Everyone seems to just interrupt me." Urahara said. He put a frown on his face as he put his hat back on. Isshin chuckled lightly while Yoruichi smiled.

"Before anyone interrupts, let me tell the story!" He said. "Anyways, Ichigo is a shinigami. A death god, if you will. He was turned into one when Rukia came from a place called Soul society."

"Soul… Society?" Tatsuki said.

"Soul Society is a place where all the good spirits go after their die in real life. There is a place called the Seireitei where Shinigami are trained to defend the world from Hollows." Just then a loud roar echoed in the distance.

"Ah perfect timing. Come Tatsuki, I'll show you what a hollow is." Urahara turned around and told Tatsuki to get on his back. After she hopped on, Urahara jumped from building to building until they arrived where the hollow was. Isshin and Yoruichi appeared right behind him seconds later.

"This, young Tatsuki, is a hollow. It is a blood lusting monster searching for souls to devour. And the only way to defeat one is to slice its mask off. Only after doing that you ca- Hey where's Ichigo he should be here by now." The four of them looked around until they heard the all too familiar yell that came from Ichigo's voice. They turned and watched as Ichigo destroyed the hollow with one fell swoop.

"And there you see Ichigo, and what he is." Urahara turned to look at her. "Any questions?" Tatsuki could not keep her eyes off Ichigo. He stood there looking around him before he started walking away.

"You look like you really need some rest. I think we should head back." And with that all four of them left and arrived back at Urahara's shop. Ichigo turned around and looked up at the sky.

"Huh…strange."


	4. Rumors

Ichigo walked into school and up the stairs to his classroom. When he got to the floor his room, he noticed something strange. Everywhere he looked, he saw people looking at him and then whispering to other people. He turned around and noticed they still whispered while staring at him. This happened all the way down the hall until he got into the classroom.

Once he got inside, almost everyone started whispering. Even a few of them pointed at him while others tried to stifle their laughter. Ichigo grew irritated at everyone as he walked to his desk and took a seat. Just then Tatsuki came walking in with Orihime. She too was looking back behind her at everyone in the hallways.

Right when Tatsuki got into the room, Ichigo noticed that the people once pointing at him now started talking about Tatsuki. The bell rang and everyone took their seats. The teacher came in soon after and started her lesson. Then the bell rang and it was time for lunch. Keigo, Ichigo, Uryuu, Sado and Mizuiru all went up to the roof of the school carrying their lunch bags.

"Keigo, what's going on?" Ichigo asked, after they sat down.

"What are you talking about, Ichigo?" He said. Ichigo took a bite from his sandwich and gulped it down before talking.

"You didn't notice? This morning it was like everyone was talking about me or something." Uryuu lightly choked on his sandwich as Ichigo said that. But it was not loud enough for anyone to hear it. He took a drink from his juice as Ichigo continued talking.

"It didn't stop there though." He began. "When Tatsuki came in I noticed they started whispering more. You have any idea what's going on here Keigo?" He looked over at Keigo who, this whole time, was looked like he was holding his breath. His face had become beet red.

"You ok?" Just then Keigo opened his mouth and let out a big yell.

"I'm sorry Ichigo!" He yelled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo said.

"I kind of told everyone you and Tatsuki were… boyfriend and girlfriend. Please forgive me!" Keigo got on his knees and started to beg Ichigo for forgiveness.

"_Shit."_ Ichigo said to himself. Uryuu had a small grin on his face.

"_Whew."_

"So what did everyone do over the weekend?" Rukia asked. "How about you, Chizuru?"

"Well I did nothing really, but when I had this most wonderful dream. I was sitting in a field full of lush green grass with my darling Orihime in my lap. Oh Orihime!" Just then she tried to wrap her arms around Orihime, but was met with a well placed kick by Tatsuki.

"Cut it out damn it!" She yelled at Chizuru. Orihime stared at them with a blank expression.

"So Orihime, what did you do this weekend?" Rukia asked trying to act like one of the girls.

"Oh, well on Saturday I slept all day. But then on Sunday I went out with Uryuu for din- Oop." Orihime covered her mouth and turned beet red. Everyone except Tatsuki gasped with their mouths wide open staring at her. Then they all squealed with delight asking her questions a lot at once. Her cheeks were completely red as she tried to cover them.

"_Uryuu finally asked her out. Oh Uryuu…."_ Rukia said to herself. A hint of a smile spread on her face.

"uh- well… ummm." Orihime tried to make up something, but in the end all she did was stutter. The girls all grew restless and started asking her questions again. She desperately looked at Tatsuki for help. Just then Tatsuki stood up and made her way to Orihime.

"That's enough you guys. Can't you see you're embarrassing her? Come on Orihime let's go." She grabbed Orihime by the wrist and dragged her away from the girls, who all groaned in disappointment. She led her back into the school and to their lockers.

"Thanks Tatsuki." Orihime said as she let out a big sigh.

"It's nothing." Tatsuki said. "Didn't I tell you I would never let anyone bully you?" She said with a smile, putting in her combination for her locker.

"I know. Thank you very much." Orihime said with a big smile. "If you hadn't stopped them, I would have accidentally told them about you and Ich-" Just then Orihime shut her mouth and started blushing. Tatsuki's eyes widened as she turned and stared at her.

"What did you say, Orihime?" She said. Orihime began to nervously laugh.

"Orihime…"

"Well." She began to chuckle lightly. "I was out to dinner with Uryuu, and we just happened to see both you and Ichigo there together." Tatsuki stood there with a light blush on her cheeks.

"It's ok if you two were… you know… dating. I'm ok with it." Orihime said with a weak smile. Tatsuki let out a chuckled as she sighed.

"It's nothing like that Orihime. I guess I can tell you." Tatsuki began. "About a year ago, me and Ichigo decided we would hang out every Sunday and spend the whole day together." Tatsuki had a small smile on her face as Orihime's face shined with a big smile of her own.

"That's so cute." She said. Just then the bell rang indicating lunch was over. Orihime grabbed some of her books while Tatsuki waited for her. She closed her locker and then they walked together to class.

"Oh yeah Orihime by the way. I was wondering about something." Tatsuki said. They started walking up the stairs to the class room.

"What were you and Uryuu doing at that restaurant?" Orihime's cheeks turned red while Tatsuki started to laugh. They walked into the classroom just as the bell started to ring. Ichigo and the rest were already sitting in their desks. When school was over, Tatsuki was one of the first out the door. She had to go to practice after school, and she liked being the first one there. As she put her books in her locker, Ichigo walked up to her locker.

"Hey Tatsuki I got something to tell ya." He said. Tatsuki looked up as she grabbed her book bag.

"What's up, Ichigo?" She asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that Keigo saw us yesterday when we were at Karakura lookout." Tatsuki looked up at him.

"He saw us too?" She asked.

"What you talking about?"

"Uryuu didn't tell you? He was with Orihime yesterday and they saw us at that Teriyaki restaurant." Ichigo looked away and thought about it for a second.

"No, he never told me that. What was he doing with Ori-" Just then Ichigo understood what she said and started to laugh.

"That sonnavabitch." Ichigo started laughing again as Tatsuki smiled at him.

"Walk with me, Ichigo." She said as she closed her locker. Tatsuki started talking about what happened at lunch today. Ichigo started laughing when Tatsuki told him about Orihime and Uryuu. After she was done, Ichigo told her about what happened while they ate lunch.

While they talked, Ichigo wasn't paying attention to where they were going. Tatsuki led them to where she practiced karate. They stopped talking, but Ichigo kept walking behind her. He didn't notice that she had walked into the changing room. Tatsuki put down her books. She too wasn't paying attention if Ichigo was still behind her. Ichigo had been reading one of his books for class.

Just then Tatsuki started to undress. Ichigo stood about a couple of feet behind her completely oblivious to what was happening. She kicked her shoes off and took her socks off. Then she unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall on the ground behind her. She lowered her skirt and kicked it off onto her bag. Now she was just standing there in her bare underwear.

Ichigo, just finishing a page looked up while turning the page. That was when he caught sight of Tatsuki in just her underwear. His cheeks were flushed as his eyes involuntarily moved up and down Tatsuki's bare back. Just then his eyes were fixed on her butt. As much as he tried to look away, his natural male hormones were taking over him and he just couldn't help but stare.

As Tatsuki reached down to pick up her shirt, she turned and noticed someone was behind her. Her eyes looked up and noticed Ichigo standing there staring with bright red cheeks. She let out a soft squeak as her face too turned red as Ichigo began stuttering. Tatsuki quickly grabbed her clothes to try and cover her body.

Ichigo stuttered as he started to back away. Just then he turned around and quickly ran out the door. He leaned against the wall next to the door, leaving Tatsuki there blushing lightly. She sat in that position for a couple more seconds before she slowly stood up. She hesitantly went to her locker and took out her karate uniform. As she was putting it on, she thought back to the look of Ichigo's face when she stared into his eyes. She chuckled lightly at the situation.

Ichigo stood out there next to the door. He couldn't get the image of Tatsuki's bare back out of his head.

"_Shit get out of my head."_ Ichigo said to himself. He tried to think about something else, but no matter how hard he tried it just couldn't happen. Just then Tatsuki emerged from the changing room. Ichigo jumped as she walked out with an irritated look on her face.

"Umm… Uhh… Tatsuki…" Ichigo fumbled through his words as Tatsuki stood there glaring at him. She let out a small grunt which frightened the life out of Ichigo. Though he faces many big and scary looking Hollows, seeing Tatsuki glare at him like that scared his pants off.

"I'm sorry!" He suddenly blurted out. Tatsuki still stood there with an irritated look on her face. Ichigo's heart started beating out of his chest. Just then she spoke.

"I'll forgive you." She began. Ichigo let out a big sigh as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Only if you can beat me in karate." She had an evil grin on her face. Ichigo stared at her with a slight grin forming on his lips. He put his book bag down and walked to the center of the room with Tatsuki. He took his position on the line near the middle of the circle. They bowed and began their match.

Tatsuki opened up the battle with a few kicks. Ichigo easily dodged those. He opened with a few punches of his own, which Tatsuki evaded as well. They continued this for about another go around until Ichigo finally landed a hit on her stomach. She looked up and grinned as she ran forward and started to launch an attack on Ichigo. He was able to block most of them, but Tatsuki was able to get a few good hits on him.

Ichigo grinned as he rubbed his cheek. He returned the favor and tried to launch his own attack on her. She blocked all of his attacks and was also able to land a good kick into his side. He let out a light groan, but then started chuckling. Just then his fist came flying and hit Tatsuki in her stomach. She took a few steps backward holding her stomach. Ichigo walked over to her and placed a hand on her back.

"I hope I didn't hurt you too much." Just then Tatsuki grabbed a hold of his hand and threw him down on the ground. She looked down at him and grinned.

"I win." She simply said. She sat on his chest and smiled as Ichigo had a small annoyed look on his face.

"All these years and I still beat your butt." She laughed as she placed a hand on his chest. Just then one of the girls from the class happened to pass by. She glanced into the room and saw Tatsuki on top of Ichigo. She quickly ran and got girls from the same class and bought them back to the doorway. They all peeked inside and saw Tatsuki's head go down. They all gasped, but tried to hide it, but it was too late. Tatsuki and Ichigo heard the sound and looked towards the doorway.

They looked back at each other and just sighed. The girls quickly ran away leaving Ichigo and Tatsuki there in a dilemma. They knew before school started tomorrow, everyone would hear about this and take the situation the wrong way. They both just sighed again as Tatsuki laid her head on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Tatsuki? Why us?" He heard her chuckle on his shoulder as they laid there for another moment.


	5. Night of Memories

Ichigo's shinigami badge started beeping. This had happen more in the past week than it had in the last few months. Rukia went back to Soul Society to do some research on that Espada and who that mysterious shinigami was. So Ichigo was by himself now when a hollow was detected. He enjoyed these nights going out and killing hollows by himself. It enabled him to be alone and have some quiet time.

At school, Ichigo was constantly bothered by the fact everyone talking about him and Tatsuki. Apparently so many rumors were being spread about him and Tatsuki, which he was getting very tired of. Even at home, his dad kept bugging him about Tatsuki. He would keep coming to the conclusion that Tatsuki was his girlfriend and he would get angry at Ichigo for not telling him about it.

No matter where Ichigo was he was hassled by something. He stood floating in mid-air looking down at the city. There was something about just watching the hustle and bustle that comes with city life that calmed him. He stood there for another minute or so before he decided to head off. Little did he know a dark figure watched him from afar.

"Soon." Just then it disappeared into thin air. Just as Ichigo reached the roof of the house next to his, he noticed something standing outside of the house. He looked down at it, but could not make out any distinct characteristic. Ichigo landed next to the figure and stood there watching him.

"So this is where you live, Kurosaki Ichigo." The dark figure turned to look at him. Ichigo was taken back by this taking a step back.

"Wai- wait. You can see me?!" He stuttered.

"Of Course I can." The figure said. "I too am a shinigami." He started walked forward and into the light. He didn't wear a shinigami outfit like Ichigo did. Instead he wore black pants with a buttoned up black shirt tucked in. He had a big brown belt and dark black boots on. His hair was just like Kurosaki Isshin's, short and black. His eyes were the most unusual. They were the deepest color of red.

"Shinigami?" Ichigo said.

"Yep. Would you like to see my Zanpaktou?" Just then the stranger lifted his zanpaktou in the air reciting a chant.

"As the light fades away, darkness consumes the heart. Let your force stop this world from plunging into darkness. Awaken now and destroy. Rukenai, shadow of death." His Zanpaktou turned completely black, like Ichigo's. Except, instead of a blade, his Zanpaktou was a blade of energy. Ichigo's eyes widened as he stared at the man's Zanpaktou.

The Reiatsu in the air was unbelievable. This power was stronger than anything he had ever felt before. Ichigo noticed that his knees started to grow weak. The Reiatsu emanating from the sword was starting to overwhelm his body. Just then Ichigo fell to his knees. He looked up, and the man was smiling.

"Now that's just mean." A voice said from behind him. The man turned around and there stood Urahara holding his hat with a smile on his face.

"Releasing your Zanpaktou knowing that the Reiatsu was too much for the boy to handle. Bully." He said making his way towards him. "It's been awhile, Eratu Yamasaki." Urahara took off his hat and bowed to him like an actor bowing after his performance. He put his Zanpaktou back into its sheath, which caused Ichigo to fall to his hands, breathing hard.

"Urahara, where is everyone?" He asked. Urahara only looked down at Ichigo.

"He doesn't know?" Yamasaki asked.

"Well, Yoruichi is back at my shop right now and Ryuken is at his hospital finishing up paper work. And…" Urahara looked down at Ichigo once more and then looked up at Yamasaki.

"When did you come back?" He asked. Yamasaki looked up at the building in front of them.

"I came back when I felt that Espada." Urahara looked away for a moment.

"Is that the same one?" Urahara asked him. Yamasaki nodded as he directed his attention to Ichigo.

"You alright, boy? I didn't mean to do that to you. I just wanted to see something." He held his hand out to Ichigo, who grabbed a hold of it and lifted himself up.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked. He wiped the loose dust and rocks off his shinigami robe.

"Let's just say, I'm one shinigami you don't ever want to get mad." He said with a smile.

"You still call yourself a shinigami?" Urahara said with a chuckle.

"Well I technically still am." He said looking at Urahara.

"What about your Quincy powers?"

"Quincy?" Ichigo said.

"Eh, I only use that if I get lazy and my opponent is not worth my time." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Quincy glove. He put it on and formed a dark red bow. Just then Ichigo yawned.

"Not impressive?" Yamasaki asked.

"No, I'm just tired and I have school tomorrow." Ichigo turned and walked towards his window.

"You old guys can keep talking about whatever. I'm going to sleep." Ichigo jumped up and into his window. Urahara waved good-bye and then turned around to look at the bow once more.

"The shadow bow with its legendary blood arrows. The strongest Quincy bow ever." Urahara said.

"But my zanpaktou is not the strongest…" Yamasaki voice trailed off. Urahara chuckled as he put his hat back on.

"We all can't be the best at everything." Urahara said. Yamasaki looked up at him and grinned.

"Oh well, I guess I'll have to share the title of strongest Zanpaktou with him anyways. Speaking of, how is old man Yamamoto doing?" He asked.

"I wouldn't know remember? I was exiled from that place long ago."

"Oh yeah that's right. That sucks." Urahara shrugged it off as he stood there looking in the distance.

"Oh boy seems like we have another guest." Urahara said. Yamasaki looked down the road before a cat came jumping out of nowhere. It clawed itself onto Yamasaki's face. Urahara laughed as Yamasaki ran around the place trying to get the black haired feline off of him. Just then the car let go and fell to the ground.

"Ow!!! My face!" Yamasaki said as he waved a menacing fist towards it. Just then the cat started to laugh.

"I've always wanted to do that." The cat spoke. Just then it began its transformation. Within seconds, stood a bare naked Yoruichi in front of Yamasaki and Urahara. Yamasaki looked at her with a small grin on his face.

"You always were the one who liked to show off." Yamasaki said. Yoruichi smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. Urahara turned around towards Ichigo's house.

"You can come out now. He's gone." Yoruichi and Yamasaki both turned around and saw Isshin appear from the shadows. He took one look at Yoruichi and smiled.

"Whore" He said. Yoruichi picked up a rock and threw it at him. He laughed as he went up and shook hands with Yamasaki.

"It has been awhile." Isshin said.

"Why were you hiding all this time? Did you see your son?" Yamasaki asked.

"Yeah. Well I haven't told him that I was a Shinigami just yet. I think it's best that he doesn't know." Yamasaki nodded in agreement. Urahara walked up to Yoruichi and handed her his spare set of clothes. He only smiled and said he had to be prepared for any situations. Yoruichi gave him a devilish grin as she put on her clothes.

"So anyways," Urahara began. "Would you like to fill us in on what is happening?" Yamasaki turned to face them all.

"You would be the one to get down to business." Yamasaki said. "Well couple days ago I noticed the 40th anniversary of the Espada coming to Karakura was approaching. I tried as fast as I could to get back here to prevent him from materializing again."

"Ichigo ran into him before you arrived." Isshin said.

"I know. I'm sorry I couldn't get there before your son did."

"It's fine."

"Anyways, when I arrived it was too late and the Espada known as Ziro Ceroza had taken over a Menos Grande and consumed the others. I was able to stop him before he could destroy the town… again."

"Speaking of," Isshin began. "Where is Ryuken?" Urahara told him he was still in the hospital completing paper work.

"That boring old sack of flesh, I have an idea." With that he whispered an idea to the three of them. Urahara looked interested in his idea. Yoruichi called Isshin a kid while Yamasaki laughed at the idea.

"Let's do it." He said. Yoruichi just scoffed at them as they used Flash Step to get to the hospital. They stood a distance away from Ryuken's hospital building. They looked in each room until Urahara spotted Ryuken. His back was turned away from the window, so he was completely oblivious to them.

Isshin, Urahara, and Yamasaki slowly made their way to the window. Yoruichi stood next to them as they looked inside the room.

"Ready?" Isshin said. Yoruichi nodded and rolled her eyes as she lightly tapped on the glass. When Ryuken turned around, he was surprised by the three guys pressing their faces on the window. They moved it around so that more of their faces were pressed up against the glass.

Ryuken looked irritated as he walked over to the window. He looked at them for a second before he raised his hand. The three of them quickly took their faces off the window and moved to the side as Ryuken fired an arrow. It pierced through the window sending glass flying everywhere. The three of them began laughing as Yoruichi landed inside.

"Yo." He said to her.

"Was that necessary?" She asked. He had a little grin on his face as his bow disappeared. The three of them landed inside of his room. They all had big grins on their faces.

"Hey party pooper. Come on we're going to have a night out on the town, for old time sakes!" Isshin said. Ryuken looked irritated again as Yamasaki stepped forward.

"Come on Ishida. Let's go. I haven't seen your grumpy butt in forever. Look I'll buy your first three drinks. Now come on!" Ryuken looked irritated at them, but none the less obliged to it.

"I hate you all."

The three guys cheered as Urahara led the way to a bar. When they arrived, they all looked up and smiled.

"This place is still up?" Yamasaki asked. The bar that stood before them was the same bar they used to go to long ago.

"It grew popular when they added a karaoke machine about a year ago." They went inside to start their night of chaos. Once they got seated, Isshin ordered a round of drinks for everyone. Everyone had a bottle of Sake and a drinking glass. After the second or third bottle of sake, Yamasaki was almost drunk. His cheeks were light red, as were everyone else's.

"Say we should invite that vice-captain of that one squad to come drink with us." Yamasaki said.

"You mean Matsumoto?" Yoruichi said. Her cheeks were completely flushed.

"Yeah that chick can dri…drink like crazy." Yamasaki hiccupped half way through his sentence. Urahara had this big smile on his face. He was wasted after he drank his second bottle of Sake.

"I was in Soul society one d-hiccup-ay. After Aizen went to Hue-hiccup-co Mundo, I decided to see how everyone was doing. I peeked in on her while she was drinking. Man she drank so much Sake. I –hiccup- had never seen anyone drink that much. You know what? I think her captain is lucky. A chick with a body like that can be my vice-captain any day." Isshin and Urahara laughed with him while Ryuken sat there completely drunk. He was too busy staring at his Sake bottle focusing intensely on it.

The night was filled with a lot of laughter and eventually singing. Ryuken got on stage and started singing songs, and making a fool of himself. Isshin eventually got up there and sang many duets with him. Urahara, Yoruichi, and Yamasaki cheered for them. At the end of the night, the two of them won trophies for being the best drunken singers of the night.

When they left, none of them were able to walk straight. Isshin and Ryuken left with their arms wrapped around each other still singing songs. Urahara and the rest laughed as they all tried to use their flash step to get back to Urahara's shop. It took them longer than usual to get there. Isshin had crashed into a tree while Urahara kept crashing into buildings. Many of them had his face imprinted on them. Yoruichi, who drank the least out of the five, was able to make it back to the shop before any of them arrived. Yamasaki arrived shortly after she did.

Just then the other three arrived falling on their faces. Ryuken and Isshin stood up and looked at each other and began laughing uncontrollably. They all got into a group circle and all said their good-byes. Urahara barely managed to get inside. Yoruichi had to help him and help herself get inside.

Ryuken walked off and went home. Isshin barely made it home without hurting himself. He jumped into his room and nearly tripped over himself getting into his bed. He closed his eyes and went to bed.

"Ichigo?" He opened his eyes to see Karin standing there above him.

"Dad won't wake up." Ichigo got out of bed and groggily walked into his dad's room. He was lightly snoring as Ichigo walked into the room. Ichigo lightly nudged him in the side, but got no response. Just then Ichigo got a bright idea. He had an evil grin on his face as he rubbed his hands together. He took a deep breath and then…

"GOOD MORNING, FATHER!" He swung a blow which connected to Isshin's face. Just then his eyes shot wide open. He jumped up rubbing his cheek.

"YOU GOT ME!" Isshin yelled at him. "MY SON IS GETTING BETTER!" SOON HE WILL WIN TATSUKI'S HEART WITH HIS STRENGTH." Just then Ichigo placed a swift and very strong kick to his face. Isshin fell backwards as Ichigo walked out of the room. Yuzu came running in tending to her father, who laughed as Ichigo left the room. Just then Isshin grabbed his head.

"Daddy! What's wrong?"

"It's nothing Yuzu. I just have a hangover." He grinned as he stood up. Last night was filled with great memories, just like the ones Isshin knew he would miss…

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Stuff/notes

Bleached out, you might be right about teh whole thing. I really didn't pay attention/research much about how Espadas, arrancars, ect. I'm making a chapter about Ceroza's past, which should clear things up.

There might be many slight parings, like Uryuu and Orihime as you can see. The main pairing is Tatsuki and Ichigo, of course. Right now I have an idea for Matsumoto/Hitsugaya one; Urahara/Yoruichi is a possibility. We'll just have to see when the time comes. Until I actually get to it, everything is up in the air.


	6. Ceroza's and Yamasaki's Past Revealed

"Dam that Yamasaki." Ziro cursed. He sat there in the dark sands of Hueco Mundo. A strong wind blew causing sand to fly into the air. His long flowing locks covered his face revealing only his glowing white eyes.

"Why do you hate him so?" A voice said. Ziro turned around and was face to face with Grimmjow. He stood there with his hands in his pockets looking down at Ziro.

"40 years ago I came to Karakura town to try and open the portal to kill the Shinigami King, much like Aizen tried to do. But before I could turn Karakura Town into a wasteland, a rouge shinigami by the name of Eratu Yamasaki came. I thought he was just some stupid shinigami who was trying to defend the king. The whole time he stood there with this smirk that pissed me the hell off. Little did I know he was no ordinary shinigami."

"Was he like that punk Ichigo?" Grimmjow said. His thoughts reverted back to when he fought Ichigo a couple of years ago.

"He was more than that. Next thing I know he gets a crazy increase of Reiatsu and this mask forms on his face like he was a hollow. All of a sudden he raises his hand, and a damn Quincy bow forms in his arm. He shoots one arrow into me, and it was over."

"How are you still here if he killed you?" Grimmjow asked. He sat down next to Ziro licking his paw.

"That is where Aizen comes in. Long ago, I found him wandering Hueco Mundo looking for something. I confronted him and said I could kill him, but he gave me an interesting proposition. He said he was going to kill the shinigami king and would give me more power, if I joined his side. I agreed to join, but I wasn't going to stay with him."

"You mean the Hougyoku?" Grimmjow asked. He sat there staring out into the abyss.

"Yeah. I waited until he obtained the Hougyoku and gave me power. After he gave me the power, I left him to try it out. My zanpaktou's ability is the ability to take over any creature in Hueco Mundo and manipulate their souls. I become them, but my spirit stays here in Hueco Mundo."

"So basically the only way to kill you is to come to Hueco Mundo and kill you." Ziro nodded. Grimmjow scoffed at him as he got up and began to walk away.

"What's wrong? Do you not want to destroy that punk who beat you?" Grimmjow turned around and faced him.

"I've grown content right now where I am." He turned around and continued walking away. "Say hello to Ichigo for me." Grimmjow said with a grin. And with that he disappeared into the darkness of Hueco Mundo. Ziro Ceroza grinned as he held his zanpaktou in his hand.

"I will defeat you Yamasaki."

Ichigo was walking down the street in downtown Karakura. Today was Saturday and he had no obligations. He decided to take a day to himself, in his shinigami form. He gave Kon his body, who ran around town enjoying his day of freedom. Ichigo sat on the railing of Karakura point, which looked down at the whole city. Zangetsu, in his spiritual form was leaning against the rail.

"How are you here?" Ichigo asked.

"After you met with that Espada, your inner hollow showed a small sign of weakness. I took advantage of it, and now I have control over him." Ichigo looked over at Zangetsu who seemed to hover where he stood.

"Ichigo, that Zanpaktou, you want to know something?" Ichigo focused his attention towards Zangetsu.

"The zanpaktou's true form… terrified me." Ichigo's eyes widened with shock. Zangetsu stared out into the horizon as the sun started setting.

"What was it?" Ichigo asked.

"It was fear. Fear brought to the highest level possible. If Urahara had not come, I would have lost control of the inner hollow and he would have taken control forever." Ichigo's eyes were completely focused on his Zanpaktou's spiritual form.

When Ichigo left Karakura point, he went out to search for Kon. He found him sleeping in a football field. Just then he sensed a hollow near by, he decided to leave Kon alone while he jumped and headed towards the hollow. Just then he felt a strange Reiatsu near. It was moving towards the hollow as well. When Ichigo arrived where the hollow was at, he looked down and saw Yamasaki standing there. He looked at the hollow with a grin on his face.

"I've been waiting for some kind of action." He said. He took Rukenai out of its sheath and recited the chant. Just then a burst of Reiatsu filled the air. Ichigo quickly landed on a rooftop and watched from there. He held onto the end so he didn't fall over. The hollow kept his ground. He stood there not too far away from Yamasaki.

"I see. It's you again." He said. The hollow suddenly began to moan. Its form began changing and soon he turned into Ziro Ceroza. The Espada stood there with a small smile on his face.

"Eratu Yamasaki, the bug that just won't go away. How did you know I was going to take over this hollow?" Ziro stood there with one hand on his zanpaktou and the other going through his hair.

"I noticed this hollow had an extremely strong Reiatsu for a hollow. I figured you would take over this one and combine your powers with it." Ziro stood there with a grin on his face. Yamasaki's zanpaktou is still emanating Reiatsu. Ichigo stood there watching them as Ziro started the fight. His eyes wide open as he felt the Reiatsu in the air. It almost overwhelmed him as he tried to keep himself up.

"Rukenai, reign upon the wicked." A dark beam shot towards Ziro who easily avoided it.

"Is that the best you can do? Rekeli shout of sorrow!" A blast of yellow soundwaves screeched from his zanpaktou. Yamasaki easily stopped the attack with one of his own.

"Your zanpaktou has a nice singing voice. Listen to mine. Sing the song of a thousand deaths, Rukenai!" Just then a thousand arrows were shot from his Zanpaktou, and into the hollow. As it faded away, Ziro said the final words.

"You know you can never beat me in this world. I'm waiting for you, Yamasaki. Hueco Mundo is waiting. It is waiting to return home." The hollow and Ziro disappeared as Yamasaki put his zanpaktou back into its sheath. He let out a big sigh as a small grin appeared on his face. He looked up towards the sky and took in a deep breath. Then he started doing some stretches trying to keep his body loose. Just then Rukia appeared behind Ichigo. He turned around as she landed on the building top.

"Ichigo, I found out who he is."

"Who? Yamasaki?" He asked. She nodded as she pulled some papers. She fumbled through them and then handed one of them to Ichigo.

"Captain Ukitake and I looked through the database of Soul Society, but did not find anything. So, I went to Onii-sama to see if he could find out who Eratu was. Eratu was a close friend to the Captain Commander, Yamamoto. And… he used to be the Captain Commander before Yamamoto." Ichigo was taken back by that fact. He looked down again at where Yamasaki was. He was running laps around the section of the street where he fought Ziro.

"You know why he is no longer Captain Commander?" Rukia asked. She walked over to the side of the building and looked down.

"He was able to obtain the powers of a hollow, much like yourself. But since his hollow powers were too strong for him to handle. Yamamoto had to help him take the mask off. He then self-exiled himself from Soul Society so that he would not cause anyone harm. He transported himself to Hueco Mundo, but that proved to worsen his situation. His hollow had complete control of him while he was there. So he decided to go to Earth. Since then, his hollow has lain dormant all this time." Ichigo's eyes shot open as he focused his complete attention on Yamasaki. he could not believe what Rukia had found out about him. It caused him to shiver lightly.

Just then he picked up Zangetsu and walked away from the ledge. Remembering what Zangetsu said, he chuckled softly as he told Rukia he was going to go home. Rukia followed as they headed to where Kon was. Yamasaki smiled as he looked up towards the rooftop. Ichigo put himself back into his body and carried the green capsule back home. He placed it in Kon's stuffed animal body. The room was dark and Ichigo wasn't paying attention to where he was going.

Rukia had just entered the room when Ichigo reached for the covers and quickly slipped under them. It was dark in his room, so Ichigo wasn't paying attention when someone else was in the bed. He reached over to grab some more of the blanket. It was then his hand touched something soft. His eyes shot open, but he could not see what it was.

He put this hand under the covers and reached out again. It was then he placed his hand on that same soft thing, but this time it was warm and smooth.

"_Shit. Please don't be what I think…"_ Ichigo thought to himself. Rukia opened the closet door and looked around.

"Ichigo my gigai isn't here." She said. Ichigo gulped loudly as Rukia headed towards the lamp. She flicked on the lights and looked at the bed. Ichigo's eyes were looking down where his hand was with eyes wide open. Then he looked up, and he was face to face with Rukia's gigai.

Ichigo quickly jumped out of bed, cheeks completely flushed. Rukia looked angry as the mod-soul sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Cover yourself!" Rukia surprisingly yelled. Ichigo looked over at Rukia who had flames coming out of her eyes. The mod-soul looked up at them with a blank stare.

"What's wrong?" She asked innocently.

"You are sleeping in Ichigo's bed, and are completely naked. You tell me what's wrong." Rukia said. Her fist was balled up tightly as she stood there. Ichigo grew frightened as he watched steam come out of Rukia's ears. Just then the mod-soul did something that made Rukia completely lose it.

"Why are you so mad?" The mod-soul got out of bed and completely exposed herself to Ichigo and Kon, who was now awake from all the yelling. He looked up and saw Rukia standing butt naked, and then Rukia again in her shinigami outfit. He looked back at Rukia's gigai and smiled.

Just then Shinigami Rukia punched the Mod-Soul Rukia in the stomach to throw up the pill. Ichigo cowered in the corner as he tried to keep his eyes off Rukia's naked body. Rukia quickly placed her body on the bed and covered it up. Her head turned and she glared at Ichigo, who by now was about to wet his pants.

"Rukia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to look! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to touch your brea-"

"Ichigo, do you want to live?" Ichigo's head moved up and down so fast it almost fell off. Rukia drew her zanpaktou from the sheath.

"Get out." Before she could finish that sentence, Ichigo ran out the door and down the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rukia said. She turned and set her eyes on Kon who was about to jump into the sheets with the naked Rukia. She grabbed him by the head and threw him down the stairs. He landed on Ichigo's chest, who grabbed him before he fell off.

They both sat down on the couch and let out a deep sigh. Ichigo had a helpless look on his face, while Kon looked like he was in dream land.

"That was the best sight ever." Kon said. He was never going to get the image of Rukia's naked body out of his mind. Ichigo shook his head every time the image of Rukia's body came about. Just then they heard footsteps. Rukia walked down, fully clothed in her pajamas, holding in her hand what looked like an ice cube. She went into the kitchen and the next thing you heard was a loud crash.

She took a step outside and wiped her hands with a satisfied look on her face.

"What are you sitting around there for, Ichigo? Get to bed." Ichigo quickly jumped off the couch and followed Rukia into his room. He had a nervous look on his face as he walked into the room. Rukia jumped into the closet and went to bed. Ichigo did the same. He turned the lights off and turned over so that he was facing away from the closet. He didn't want Rukia to see, the small grin upon his face.


	7. I know

"Bzzzttt!" Tatsuki's alarm went off. She reached over and turned off the alarm. The day was Saturday. It had been nearly one week since she learned about Ichigo and his shinigami powers. She had been waiting for the day so that she could confront him about it.

Tatsuki got out of bed and changed her clothes. She put on a green tank top a pair of navy blue shorts. She slipped on a pair of socks and then into her shoes. She grabbed her headband and wrapped it around her head. Then she grabbed a towel and put it on her neck. She ran down the stairs and out the door. When outside, she did a few pre-run stretches before she started jogging down the street.

While jogging, her thoughts began to drift back to when she went to Urahara's.

"_Did you know that you have special abilities, too?" Urahara said. Tatsuki looked at him wondering what he was talking about._

"_Think about something or someone that you hold close to your heart. Now think about what you would be feeling if you were trying to protect them." Tatsuki took a moment before she thought about someone. Then she began to focus on protecting them. Suddenly her hands and feet began to glow. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at her hands._

"_Ooh, I like your abilities. Make a fist out of your hands and then thrust it forward like you were trying to punch someone." Tatsuki gave him a questionable look, but complied. She clenched her fist and then thrust her fist forward. A blast of energy came out and was shot forward. Little did she forget, Isshin was standing in front of her. He quickly moved to the side to dodge the attack. Tatsuki chuckled lightly as she apologized._

"_Good. Good." Urahara said with a big smile. "Now this time pretend you are kicking a soccer ball. When she kicked her leg forward, a blast of energy sliced over towards Isshin. This time he wasn't able to react fast enough. The energy blast lightly singed his hair. Urahara began laughing while Tatsuki started apologizing._

"_Now remember this, young Tatsuki. Only use your powers if you want to protect someone. Don't abuse it."_

Tatsuki stopped running and sat down on a bench. She used her towel and wiped the sweat off her face. She looked at her hands, thinking about the night before. The river was behind her. She stood up and clenched her fist. Energy formed around her hand. She then launched it into the river. It caused a huge splash from the river.

Ichigo looked out his window. He felt Tatsuki's Reiatsu, but he didn't know whose it was. His shinigami badge was not going off, so it wasn't a hollow. He decided to go check it out. He walked downstairs and then out the front door. Isshin turned towards the river. Just then another spurt of water went up into the air. He grinned as he walked out the front door and transformed into his shinigami form. Tatsuki focused her energy to her right leg. She cocked it back and then let it go. It went into the river and caused another big splash.

"Having fun?" Someone called. Tatsuki looked up and saw Isshin there with a small grin on his face. Tatsuki turned around and smiled as she walked up the slanted ground to the sidewalk.

"Careful, you're starting to attract people." He said.

"You certainly got my attention." A voice called out. They turned around and saw Urahara standing there with a smile on his face. He made his way over and warned Tatsuki about the use of her powers.

"You need to be more careful Tatsuki-chan. Using your power attracts attention from both good and bad people alike. If hollows sensed your powers, then your situation could take a turn for the worse." He began to explain the different situations that Tatsuki could be stuck in. She nodded and apologized.

"Well it seems like my son is coming." Isshin said. Tatsuki's eyes widened.

"Crap. I don't want Ichigo to know about this. I gotta go." She said. She started running, but towards Ichigo's direction.

"Wait!" Isshin called out. Before Tatsuki could turn around, Isshin stood behind her. "Allow me." He picked up Tatsuki with one arm and waved good-bye to Urahara before he left. Right after he disappeared, Ichigo arrived panting. Urahara stood there smiling as he looked out at the river.

"Hello Ichigo! Long time no see." He said with his all too normal cheerful attitude.

"Don't play games with me. What was that Reiatsu just now?" Ichigo said. Urahara gave him one of those looks that said he had no idea what Ichigo was talking about.

"That was me." He simply said with a smile. Ichigo let out a sigh. Just then he landed a punch on Urahara's head.

"Idiot, I know what you're Reiatsu is like. This wasn't yours who's was it!?" A slight hint of irritation was in his voice. Urahara stood up rubbing his head.

"Owie! Why don't you believe me? It really was me." Urahara said. Ichigo decided to just give up. He threw his arms up in defeat and turned to walk away. Urahara stood there with a smile on his face.

"Hey Ichigo, just remember this. What you thought you once knew, is no longer the same." Ichigo turned around and stared at him as he took off his hat and bowed.

"I bid you a good day." And with that Urahara disappeared. Ichigo just shrugged it off as he continued home. When he got home, he went to his room. Rukia was sitting on the floor reading the latest edition of Tokyo Fashion. She looked up at him while eating a snack. Then she went back to reading the magazine.

"Did you find out whose Reiatsu that was?" She asked. Ichigo shook his head as he laid down on his bed. He sat there on his bed looking up at the ceiling. The sun was setting on that Saturday. Tatsuki stood at Karakura point. She watched as the sun set, with a small smile on her face. She placed her head on her hand as she propped her elbow on the rail. It looked like she was daydreaming.

The next day, Ichigo got up early. He went into the bathroom and took a shower. Afterwards, he took a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Walking into his room, Ichigo's mind wandered off to yesterday. It irritated him that he did not know who was at the banks of the river. He took the towel off exposing his naked rear end. Sunday mornings were the best for him. No one woke up until later on in the day.

He looked over at his clock which read "6:05" He walked over to his dresser and opened the top shelf. He grabbed a shirt out and started closing it. Right when he closed it, he heard a camera go off behind him. He turned around and was face to face with a smirking Rukia.

"Caught ya." She said. Ichigo quickly grabbed a towel to cover himself up. Rukia laughed as she flipped through the pictures in her brand new digital camera. When she found the picture of Ichigo's butt, she smiled and looked back at him.

"Blackmail." She simple stated. Ichigo grew angry as he balled up his fist. Rukia chuckled as she quickly jumped out the window. Ichigo ran to the window shouting after her, but it was no use. She was gone.

He didn't want that to bug him, so he forgot about it and walked over to Tatsuki's house. When he got there he walked over to the back door. There was a welcome mat that had a key to the back door under it. Tatsuki told Ichigo to use it whenever he came over. Ichigo had the same kind of Idea for Tatsuki except he was for the front door and not the back.

He bent down and flipped the mat and grabbed the key. He unlocked the door and put the key back under the rug. He closed the door and then locked it again before he headed up to Tatsuki's room. He lightly knocked on the door. When she didn't respond, he opened the door just a crack to peek inside. He saw her still sleeping on her bed.

He smiled as he quietly opened the door. He gently closed it and walked to her bedside. He looked down as she snored lightly in her sleep. Just when he was about to wake her, Ichigo decided against it. He felt it was mean, and he decided not to. He instead walked over to the window and pulled open the curtain. He lifted up the window to let the fresh air blow in.

He stood and looked out the window. A small breeze crept in and made its way over to Tatsuki. She stirred lightly as her eyes slowly opened. She slowly sat up and began to rub her eyes. Ichigo turned around when he heard her move. She reached up above her head stretching her arms, letting out a big yawn.

"Ichi-go?" She said sleepily. He looked over at her with a small smile on his face. He walked over to the bed and sat down on it. She rubbed her eyes once again and let out a big sigh. He reached out and ruffled up her hair. She lightly squealed as he playfully ruffled the hair. She swatted his hand away as she moved her legs so she could sit properly on the bed.

"Good morning." He said with a soft smile. Tatsuki stood up and stretched as she walked over to the window. There were no clouds in the sky. The day was cool and perfect. Ichigo sat on her bed as she walked over and grabbed some clothes from her dresser.

"Are we going out to eat for breakfast?" she asked. Ichigo nodded and even told Tatsuki he would pay for her. She smiled and told him to wait while she took a shower. Ichigo walked downstairs and sat on the couch. When she was finished, she walked down the stairs and they were off.

Tatsuki drove over to Waffle House for breakfast. The place had been open for about two or three months and it became their instant favorite to go to on Sundays. They frequented that place almost every week that the people who worked there knew them. They walked inside and took a seat at the high table right in front of the oven. The waiter said hello to them as they sat down.

"Hello you two good to see you again." The waiter said. They smiled as the cook got their food ready. He already knew what they wanted and started to cook their food. The two of them talked with the waiter while the cook finished up their food.

"So I've been meaning to ask you," the waiter said. "How long have you two been boyfriend and girlfriend?" Both Tatsuki and Ichigo blushed while chuckling lightly. Then Ichigo spoke against it. The waiter smiled as the cook finished up their food. She took the plates and then gave it to them. The two thanked her and then they ate.

While they ate, Ichigo noticed a jukebox out of the corner of his eyes. He put his chopsticks down and wiped his mouth. He fumbled through his pockets and counted the change he had in his pockets. Tatsuki looked over at him as he counted his change. He looked up and smiled at her as he got out of his seat. She turned around and watched where he was going. She groaned lightly when she saw him head towards the jukebox. She knew this was not going to end well.

She especially knew it would not go well when she saw Ichigo practically put coin after coin from his pocket into the machine. When he was done, Tatsuki swore he put about 40 coins in. He looked through all the songs available and then began choosing songs. Tatsuki sighed and shook her head as Ichigo finished with his song selection. He walked back with a triumphant look on his face. He sat down and went back to eating as the first song started to play.

He looked up at Tatsuki and smiled. Tatsuki's favorite rock song started to play. She smiled as she took a forkful of a waffle and chewed it down. After the song was over Ichigo chuckled lightly. Tatsuki looked over at him as the next song started to play. It was a pop song with an odd beat.

"Oh I hate you." She playfully punched him on his arm. "I hate this song!" She said. Ichigo gave her a big smile as she just shook her head trying not to listen to the song. The waiter just stood there chuckling as he watched the two

"_Oh to be young and in love."_ He thought to himself. He smiled as he wrote out the check and placed it on the table. After they finished eating, Ichigo took out his wallet and put some money down for the bill and a little extra for tips. They thanked the waiter and the cook before heading off.

Instead of going to the mall, Tatsuki and Ichigo decided to go take a walk around the park. It was a beautiful day, and it would be a waste to spend it indoors. She parked the car and they got out. Ichigo rolled back his sleeve and looked at his watch. It read "7:40." It was still early in the morning, and there was not a sign of anyone. The air was slightly cold, but they both had on long sleeve shirts, which helped.

Before they walked around, Tatsuki slid her arm around Ichigo's. When he looked at her, she gave him a warm smile which made him smile before they headed off. They walked around the park, enjoying the sounds of the birds and squirrels chattering with each other as they ran through the park.

Ichigo pointed at Tatsuki, she looked down and Ichigo flicked her nose. Her head shot backwards with surprise. She rubbed her nose as he wiggled his way out of her hold. He started to run down the path, while Tatsuki started chasing him. He laughed as he turned around every now and then to see her still chasing him. She had a grin as she caught up to him.

She jumped on his back and put him in a sleeper hold. He laughed as he tried to get out of the hold. He wrapped his arms around Tatsuki and started tickling her. She started laughing and let go of the hold. Ichigo wrapped his arms around her. She squealed with delight as Ichigo held her tight with one arm and tickled her with his free hand.

She struggled until she was able to free herself from his grasp. Ichigo tried to reach forward to grab a hold of her. Tatsuki decided to get revenge on Ichigo. She turned around and leaned forward with intensions to get him back. That's when it happened. Their lips met for only a brief second. Both Ichigo and Tatsuki's eyes widened as they parted their lips.

They both looked away from each other as a large blush spread across both of their faces. They stood there in this awkward silence. It wasn't until Ichigo spoke out.

"Well that was different." He said. He lightly chuckled as Tatsuki, for the first time, met his gaze. He gave her a weak smile and she returned the favor.

"You ok over there Tatsuki." She had looked away again, her blush still on her cheeks. She still couldn't get over it. The moment their lips touched, she swore she felt-

Her thoughts were interrupted when Ichigo placed his hand on her back. Her head shot up and met Ichigo's gaze once more. She smiled again and let out a big sigh.

"You know what? We shouldn't let this get to us." Ichigo said. "Come on, let's get some ice cream." Tatsuki closed her eyes and tilted her head downward for a moment before she looked up and smiled. Neither of them were going to forget what had happened, but they

"Ok." She said. Right across the street from the park, was a small ice cream shop. After they crossed the street, they went inside. Ichigo ordered a triple scoop of chocolate ice cream. Tatsuki ordered two scoops of vanilla ice cream. After they were handed their cones, they took a seat by the window. Ichigo kept looking at his ice cream and grinning.

"Fatty." She said with a chuckle. Ichigo stuck his tongue at her as he licked a side of his ice cream. Tatsuki licked her ice cream as Ichigo did the same. After they were done, they left and went back to the park. They walked around until Ichigo spotted a swing set. He stopped which prompted Tatsuki to glance at him. He ran over to the swing set and Tatsuki watched him as he got on the swing.

She stared at him and just shook her head as she walked over to the swing set. Ichigo was swinging high as Tatsuki just stood there watching him. She walked over and sat down on the other swing. She swayed back and forth slowly and watched Ichigo.

Just then she decided to join her. She pushed off the ground and starting swinging. Push after push she gained momentum. Then she too was swinging as high as Ichigo was. He looked over and they both laughed at each other.

"Hey Ichigo, let's see who can jump the farthest." Tatsuki said.

"Ok!" He shouted. "Me first." Ichigo rocked back and forth, trying to gain as much momentum as he could. And then he jumped. He landed about 30 feet away from the swing set. He was wiping some of the dirt that got on him and had his back towards Tatsuki who had a grin on her face. She started to channel her energy to her arms.

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"_That Reiatsu! Where is it coming from?" _He stood up and started to look around.

"_What is he looking at?" _Tatsuki said. She suddenly stopped using her power and then jumped. Ichigo was still looking around the park. Just then Tatsuki passed over him. Her shadow was right on top of Ichigo. He looked up and saw Tatsuki smiling at him as she sailed over him. She was about to land when Ichigo's eyes widened once more. The dust cleared as Tatsuki stood there with a huge grin on her face.

"I beat you." She said. Dust flew up as she stood there victorious. Ichigo never took his eyes off Tatsuki. She grew concerned when Ichigo didn't respond to her. He had a look on his face that expression a hint of fear and surprised. Just then he started walking up to her. Tatsuki grew uncomfortable as Ichigo slowly made his way to her. Just then he was no more than a couple of inches away from her. He stared into her eyes as she stared back into his.

"Tatsuki, what was that just now?" he asked. Tatsuki gulped as she looked up at Ichigo. This was a side of him he never showed her. This was the side of Ichigo that scared her. Just then she shook her head quickly to snap herself out of the trance.

"Ichigo," she began. "I need to talk to you." Ichigo backed off slightly. There was a small moment of silence before she spoke.

"Ichigo, I know everything." His eyes widened. "I about you and Rukia and about shinigamis. I know about it all." Ichigo looked shocked as Tatsuki stood there staring right at him.

"So, you know about it all huh?" He said. She nodded.

"Ichigo… Why didn't you tell me about it?" Tatsuki said. She had a concerned look on her face. Ichigo turned and looked away. Tatsuki felt dejected. She turned around no longer facing Ichigo. She wanted to run away right then and there. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"I didn't want you to get hurt because I couldn't protect you." His words struck Tatsuki hard. She turned around, and this time Ichigo was right in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Tatsuki, if you had gotten involved and hurt because I couldn't protect you, I would never forgive myself." Ichigo stared into her deep eyes. "Tatsuki I care too much about you, to ever see you get hurt because I failed to protect you." Tatsuki smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face into his chest. Ichigo looked down into her head of hair. He wrapped his arms around her firm and strong body. Then he smiled; a smile that he had only when he was younger kid.

"Tatsuki, I…"

"Shut up." She said. "You're ruining the moment." Ichigo smiled as he tightened his hold on her. A silence fell upon them. An echo of a grin unwanted.

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By the way this aint the end. It sounds like a nice closure to a story, but it aint. I ant done yet. :-)


	8. The Challenge

Thunder echoed throughout the town. Rain fell like teardrops from one's eyes. Ichigo sat at his desk looking out the window. He stared out the window while the teacher gave a lecture. Tatsuki sat there taking extensive notes. Chad sat there quietly taking notes. Orihime drew pictures of giant squirrels taking over the world and her as the Squirrel Queen. Uryuu sat there reading a book. Rukia sat in her seat with an innocent smile on her face as she took notes.

Then the bell rang and it was time for lunch. Everyone left the classroom and went to the cafeteria, including Uryuu, Orihime, Chad, and Rukia. Ichigo and Tatsuki stayed in the room. Ichigo was lost in thought, staring at the rain. Tatsuki wanted to finish up the last bit of notes before she headed to lunch. The teacher left and went to the teachers' lounge, leaving the two in there.

After finishing her notes, Tatsuki closed her notebook and put it away. As she was getting up, she happened to glance over and see Ichigo sitting there. She found it odd as she walked over to his desk. She lifted her hand and flicked his nose. He jumped up and turned his head as she giggled at him. He stood up rubbing his nose.

"What were you looking at out there?" She asked.

"I was just watching the rain." He said. He looked down and smiled at her. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed. The two of them decided to become a couple the day Tatsuki revealed her powers to Ichigo. They both wanted to keep their relationship a secret because it would cause a big commotion with everyone they knew.

Ichigo eased his hold on Tatsuki. They moved over to the back corner of the room and arranged the desk so they faced outside. They opened their lunch bags and placed everything on the table. They began eating their lunch watching the rain as it fell. After they finished their lunch, Ichigo collected all the trash and went to the front of the room to throw it away.

Tatsuki leaned against the wall staring outside. When Ichigo came back he leaned on the wall next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled as she moved over and leaned upon his chest. They were quiet, enjoying the peace and silence they shared together. That carefree smile, which Ichigo had as a young boy, returned to his lips once more.

Uryuu walked down the hallway to the classroom. He acquired a tear in his sleeve and wanted to get his bookbag so he could sew it back together. As he reached the classroom he noticed the door was cracked open. He peeked inside and his eyes widened. A grin formed as he turned around and walked back to the cafeteria. Chad, Inoue and Rukia sat there talking as Uryuu took his seat next to Orihime. It was then Chad noticed his grin.

"Why are you grinning?" He asked. Uryuu looked up and smiled. He told them what was going on in the classroom. Orihime gasped while Rukia smiled. The four of them got out of their seats and quickly ran out of the cafeteria. They ran up the stairs and down the hall. They slowed down their pace when they were close to the classroom. Quietly the four of them crept up to the door. One-by-one they peeked through the door. All of they silently gasped as they watched what happened inside.

Just then Chad and Uryuu grinned while Orihime and Rukia squealed in delight. Tatsuki and Ichigo shared another passionate kiss. Unknowing to them, they were being watched by their friends. When their lips parted, Tatsuki looked up into Ichigo's dark brown eyes and smiled. They kissed once more before Tatsuki buried her face into his chest. Suddenly Orihime's nose started to itch. Just before she sneezed Uryuu's eyes widened and he plugged her nose. Her breathing returned to normal and she stopped. She looked at Uryuu and smiled as a way of saying thanks. But then out of nowhere she let out a sneeze.

Both Tatsuki and Ichigo looked over towards the door.

"_This Reiatsu… Shit!"_ He thought to himself. As he let go of Tatsuki's hands, he felt the Reiatsu fading away. He quickly grabbed his shinigami badge and his soul escaped from his body. Uryuu and the others ran down the hallway trying to get away from the room. Before they got to the stairs, Ichigo appeared before them. They all fell backwards as Ichigo stood there, looking quite irritated.

"How long were you spying on us?" He asked. His eyes closed and mouth lightly twitching. The four of them were too scared to speak. Then they heard footsteps behind them. They turned around and faced an angry Tatsuki. Her eyes were closed, hiding the fiery flames in her eyes.

Ichigo and Tatsuki led the four into the classroom. They sat down at the desks while Ichigo went back into his body. Uryuu, Rukia, Chad, and Orihime sat there terrified out of their minds. Ichigo and Tatsuki stood in front of them glaring holes through them.

"How long were you guys there?" Ichigo asked again. He pointed towards the door where they spied on him. Neither of them spoke as they sat there. Uryuu looked like he was close to passing out. Ichigo grew irritated again. Just then Chad spoke up.

"We were there for only a second. We didn't see much." He coughed out. Ichigo looked over at him and then sighed. Just then Orihime spoke.

"Umm Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime lightly said.

"Yeah, Orihime?"

"How long have you and Tatsuki been dating?" Ichigo gave her a weak smile as Tatsuki spoke.

"We decided to yesterday." She said. She wrapped her hand around Ichigo's which caused Orihime to gasp lightly. She smiled at them. Suddenly the lunch bell rang, indicating lunch was over. Soon the hallway was filled with the sounds of students walking down the hallways, talking. The group took their seats as the students began filing in. As Ichigo walked past Tatsuki, he lightly rubbed her back which caused her to smile.

Once school was over, Tatsuki approached Orihime.

"Hey Orihime, what are you doing this Sunday?" He asked. Uryuu looked up while closing his locker.

"I'm not really doing anything, why?"

"Me and Ichigo were going to go watch a movie this Sunday, and I was wondering if you wanted to double date with your Uryuu?" Orihime blushed lightly.

"Sure." She said. They talked about it as they were leaving the school. The rain was still pouring, so they talked under the awning before going home. Tatsuki got into her car and drove to the front and picked up Ichigo.

"Oh yeah, I asked Orihime to join us this Sunday at the movies." Tatsuki said. They were stopped at a red light.

"Really?" He asked. Ichigo smiled and nodded. "That's going to be a fun day." He grinned as he thought of the many things he could do to torture Uryuu that day. Tatsuki just smiled as she thought of Uryuu and Orihime on a date. She chuckled lightly to herself. Then she noticed that Ichigo was laughing as well. They stared at each other for a second before they laughed in unison. The light turned green and she drove to Ichigo's house. When she arrived at the front of his house, Ichigo grabbed his bookbag and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out.

Tatsuki drove off as Ichigo walked into the house. As he walked in, he wiped the loose water off of his hair. He took off his shoes and placed them next to the door. He walked up the stairs and into his room. Rukia was sitting on his bed. She was reading another magazine on the latest fashion. Ichigo closed the door behind him. He walked over to his dresser and took out another shirt.

Ichigo took off his shirt and threw it at Rukia. It landed on her head much to her disapproval. She pouted lightly as she threw the shirt to the ground. Ichigo slipped on another shirt and closed the dresser. Suddenly his Shinigami badge went off. He quickly grabbed it and separated his soul from his body. As he was jumping through the window, he noticed Rukia was still in her human form.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Nah, you got it." She said with a wink. Ichigo growled lightly as he jumped out the window. He jumped on building and building towards the Reiatsu of a hollow. When he arrived, he stared face to face with it. It was a large scorpion looking hollow. Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu and lifted it above his head. Just as he pointed his Zanpaktou forward, the hollow began to moan.

Suddenly the hollow began transforming. Ichigo was surprised as it began changing. His eyes widened when the transformation was complete. Ziro Ceroza stood there with an evil grin upon his face.

"We meet again shinigami." He said. Ichigo glared at him as he lowered Zangetsu to the ground.

"What do you want?" Ichigo said. He never took his eyes off of Ziro.

"I came here only to talk to you." Ziro said. "Forty years ago, I came to this town and began laying waste to it. I wanted to destroy the Shinigami King and rule all three worlds. But then a punk Shinigami named, Eratu Yamasaki came and foiled my plans. So I lie in Hueco Mundo waiting for a chance to do it all again. Now I noticed something about Eratu. Everytime I challenged him to come to Hueco Mundo, he always refused. Do you know why, Ichigo?" Ziro and Ichigo stood still glaring at each other.

"Unlike you, he can't control the hollow within him. When he goes to Hueco Mundo his hollow will take over him and consume his soul. He knows that when he enters Hueco Mundo, he will never return." Ichigo stood there looking uninterested. He even yawned lightly as Ziro lectured him.

"It looks like I am boring you. Let me get straight to the point. Kurosaki Ichigo, I challenge you to come to Hueco Mundo and fight me."

"Why do I have to go there? I can just kill you here." He said, lifting Zangetsu in the air.

"That is where you are wrong. I have the ability to take over a hollow, but when you kill me here, you are killing the hollow. I am right now in Hueco Mundo using my zanpaktou's ability. It's much like Aizen's zanpaktou when you think about it. The only difference is that I can take over a hollow's body. Let me make you an offer you can't refuse." Ichigo lowered Zangetsu as Ziro lifted his finger in the air. A screen appeared above him.

"Come to Hueco Mundo and fight me, or I'll kill her." The screen showed Tatsuki sleeping in her bed.

"I'll kill Arisawa Tatsuki." Ichigo's eyes widened and he attacked the hollow without hesitation. The screen vanished. He stood there breathing hard, heart beating fast. He held Zangetsu tightly in his hands. Ziro's words echoed in his mind. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and stared eye to eye with Yamasaki. He had a serious look on his face as he approached Ichigo.

"Is everything he said true?" Ichigo asked coldly. Yamasaki nodded as he looked away. Ichigo glared at him as he slung Zangetsu over his back.

"So what are you planning to do, Ichigo?" Yamasaki titled his head and stared at him. Ichigo looked down. Yamasaki looked into Ichigo's eyes. He grew sad when he looked into Ichigo's eyes. That distant stare he had was a more than enough answer for Yamasaki. He knew what Ichigo's answer was going to be. Ichigo looked up at Yamasaki.

"I'm going." He said.

"What about Tatsuki?" Yamasaki said. Ichigo looked away once more. He thought about Tatsuki. He didn't want to hurt her by leaving, but knew he had no choice.

"Ichigo, I understand if you don't want to go. I'll go." Yamasaki said. Ichigo looked at him once more. They stared for a moment before Ichigo spoke.

"But what about your hollow?" He asked.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is we need to stop Ziro. Don't worry about it Ichigo. I'll go and stop him before anything happens. I'll go to Hueco Mundo and sto-"

"No." Ichigo said. He raised his voice lightly before speaking again.

"That's too much of a risk. I'll go." Ichigo said.

"You're not strong enough to stop him. You don't know his true power."

"I don't care. I have to fight him. If I don't he'll kill Tatsuki." Ichigo yelled. Yamasaki looked away, disheartened.

"Is that your final decision?" Yamasaki asked. He knew Ichigo was not going to back down from this.

"Tomorrow. Meet me at Urahara's shop at 11 P.M. I'll tell him we need the portal to Hueco Mundo opened." Yamasaki looked over Ichigo. He stood there in deep thought.

Ichigo turned and walked home. He was silent for the rest of the night. When he arrived home, he crept into his window and into his body. He laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. Ziro's words echoed in his mind.

"_I'll kill Arisawa Tatsuki…"_

Ichigo turned over on his bed with his back towards his closet. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.


	9. GoodBye Tatsuki

Double Post In case you just read the latest chapter ouot, I have chap 8 up. Right after posting Chap 8 I got busy and ended up finishing Chap 9 no more than a couple hours later. So get to that. I think my story is coming to an end soon. I think I got a few more chapters in me until this one is done. I've got two ideas in my head that I can't choose from. I won't say what I've got planned yet, but at the end of this story I'll tell ya which part I picked. Until then. Enjoy my story.

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"Yawn." Tatsuki slowly opened her eyes. Sunlight was peeking through her window. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She hopped out of bed, and then set it. She walked out of her room and walked over to a cabinet. She opened the door and grabbed a towel. She ran to the door and grabbed a pair of shoes. She slipped them on and ran out the door.

She ran laps around her neighborhood to get the blood pumping in her body. The morning was cool and cloudless. The sun shone brightly in the sky. Tatsuki ran for about an hour before she headed back to her house. She took her towel and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She wiped her arms and her face.

She walked into the house and placed the towel the hamper. As she was walking up the stairs, she felt a light sting in her chest. She placed her hand over her left breast right where her heart was. It went away the moment it came. She stood there for a second, but shrugged it off.

Tatsuki went into the bathroom and took a shower. The cool water fell upon her naked body. Suddenly she felt that sting again. She stopped lathering her hair with shampoo for a second. When the stinging feeling went away, she went back to lathering her hair. She rinsed her hair off and turned off the water. She dried her body and stepped out of the shower.

She wrapped the towel around her body and left the bathroom to her room. She closed the door behind her and then slipped into her school clothes. Afterwards, she walked downstairs and into the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal before leaving for school. When she arrived, she parked in her spot and went to her classroom.

As she walked inside, Tatsuki looked around for Ichigo. When she noticed he wasn't there, she was a little irritated. She walked over to Uryuu and Orihime and asked where he was, but they didn't know. She went over to Chad and asked. She grew a little worried when they didn't know. Then she asked Rukia.

"I haven't seen him since he left this morning." Rukia said. "I thought he was going to school." Rukia was as concerned about Ichigo's whereabouts as Tatsuki was. Truthfully, when she got out of the closet Ichigo was not in his bed. It was made so that it looked like no one was in it. Even Kon did not know where he was. Then the bell rang and school started. Tatsuki grew worried as the day went on.

When school was over, she quickly left school and drove to Ichigo's house. When she arrived she got out of the car and went inside. Yuzu and Karin were still in school so the house was empty. She walked up the stairs that led to Ichigo's room. When she reached his door, she reached out and turned the knob. The door quietly opened and she peeked inside. Much to her dismay, the room was empty. She walked inside and began inspecting the room. It was as though Ichigo had not been in it for awhile.

"He's gone." A voice said. She turned around and saw Isshin standing in the doorway. "He left this morning." Isshin stepped inside holding a towel around his neck.

"Where did he go?" She asked.

"I don't know. I'm a bit worried myself." He said. "He came home around 12 last night, but then left about an hour later." Tatsuki looked away towards the window, which was wide open. A small breeze blew in and brushed up against Tatsuki's skin. Suddenly Isshin's eyes widened. Tatsuki looked over at him, and noticed it.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Follow me." He said. They ran down the stairs and out the house. Isshin transformed into his shinigami form before leaving the house. He had grabbed Kon out of the stuffed animal and put it inside his body.

"Take care of the house for a second." He yelled. Kon waved at them as Tatsuki followed Isshin. He took her to the banks of the river where Ichigo's mother died. Isshin stood there looking around the place. Tatsuki stood next to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked looking up at him. He continued to look around.

"It's nothing. I thought I felt Ichigo's Reiatsu here. I guess I was wrong." He looked around once more before turning and walking up the slanted ground. He told Tatsuki he was going to go back to the house. He had to pick up Yuzu and Karin from school soon.

Tatsuki looked around for a bit longer before she turned to leave as well. As she was turning she noticed something in the grass. She turned her attention to a purple rose lying in the grass. It was a rarity to see a rose that color growing. She walked over to the rose and noticed there was a small piece of paper attached. She lifted the rose and read the paper.

"_Meet me at Karakura lookout point. I need to talk to you. Ichigo"_

Her eyes widened as she read the note. She held onto the rose as she walked up the slanted ground. She looked around to see if anyone was near. Then she used her powers to jump from the sidewalk to the top of the roof. She jumped from roof to roof towards the lookout point.

"_Ichigo what's wrong?"_ She thought to herself.

When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs she jumped from rail to rail till she reached the top. Once at the top, she found Ichigo standing there looking down at the city. She hesitated before approaching him. He turned around and stared deep into her eyes.

"Ichigo, where have you been?" She ran up to him and embraced him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his body. Tatsuki felt his body lightly shaking. She knew something was wrong. When he let go, he put his hands on her shoulders. He placed a hand under her chin and tilted her head upward.

Then he gave her one of the most passionate kisses she had ever felt in her life. Tatsuki was overcome with feeling that her cheeks turned light red. They stood like that for a moment. His hand ran up and down her back. She tightened her hold around his neck, begging for more. Ichigo responded with the same gesture. He wrapped his arms slightly more around her. It was pure bliss. The bee's knees if you will. When their lips parted the first time, Tatsuki had to catch her breath. She had been holding her breath for so long.

When she finally caught her breath, Tatsuki returned his favor and kissed him again. When their lips parted a second time, Tatsuki still had her eyes closed. The raw emotion of that kiss was just so great. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with that carefree smile Ichigo had when he was younger. His hands never left her waist. .He held her so close; she could hear his light breathing.

"Ichigo, where were you today?" She barely was able to whisper. That kiss still made her lips quiver.

"I'm sorry. I had something on my mind. I needed some time alone and school was going to distract me." Something wasn't right. Something in the back of her head kept bugging her. Tatsuki had to know.

"What's wrong love?" Tatsuki blushed as the words came out. Ichigo looked over at her and gave her a funny look.

"Did you just call me love?" He said. Tatsuki's cheeks were flushed as she smiled. Ichigo lightly laughed at her.

"Tatsuki, there's something I need to tell you." He said in a stern voice. He lowered his head so that his lips were right next to her ear. Her eyes widened though she barely heard the words coming out of his mouth.

"I don't love you, anymore." He whispered. Tatsuki felt like she was about to cry. She stepped back and looked into Ichigo's eyes. She could see hurt deep within his dark eyes.

"Tatsuki, I think we should breakup. I just don't love you anymore." He said. This time his voice was loud and clear enough for her to hear.

"You don't mean that." She said. Ichigo stared at her. His face had a mixed expression to it. He had a serious look on his face, but it looked like he was hurting in his eyes.

"Tatsuki. I'm sorry. I lied to you all this time. I never loved you. I wasn't serious when I asked you to be my girlfriend." Tatsuki was feeling a mixed emotion. She felt anger, sadness, lost, frustrated. She didn't know what was going on. Her best friend for so long was being something completely different. He was distant and cold. It was like when he went to rescue Orihime and go to Hueco Mundo.

"Ichigo, stop lying. I know you are."

"I'm not."

"Don't give me that shit! Then what was that just now. Did that kiss mean nothing to you?" One could hear the hurt in her voice. Ichigo certainly did. It caused him to hesitate in answering her. "Tell me!" her voice lightly cracked.

"Yes. I felt nothing. Tatsuki, I want you to leave now. Leave and don't think about me again. I'm sorry." He began to walk away leaving Tatsuki there confused, alone, and sad. Her fist clenched tightly as she drew her fist back. Energy began forming in it. She started running up to Ichigo. When he turned around, she placed one really strong and well-placed punch to his jaw. He went flying down the long flight of stairs. Tatsuki's eyes widened as she watched his body lifelessly roll down the stairs.

Then his body hit the bottom with a sickening thud. She gasped as she ran down the stairs. Ichigo laid there unmoving. Tatsuki jumped the last few steps and ran over to Ichigo's body. She knelt down inspecting his body. His body had many cuts and scrapes on his body. His clothes were torn revealing more cuts and scrapes.

As she reached out, she heard his voice.

"No." He said. She stopped midway as Ichigo's body started to stir. He raised himself up off the ground. Blood dripped from his nose. He slowly rose to his feet and began walking away. Tatsuki sat there watching him walk.

As she rose to her feet, she started to call out for Ichigo.

"Ich-" Ichigo released a large amount of Reiatsu towards Tatsuki. It overwhelmed her so much that she fell to the ground. She couldn't move. She was helpless. Tatsuki struggled to lift her head up.

"Tatsuki, don't follow me." Ichigo said. He had a solemn tone in his voice. He turned around and stared deep into her eyes. Tatsuki thought she saw a tear drop fall from his eye. Then he turned and disappeared. The pressure he put on her faded away. She quickly rose to her feet and started running in Ichigo's direction. She wanted to see him one more time. She wanted him to answer her questions, but it was no use. Ichigo was gone. She fell to her knees tightly clenching her fist. Then she slammed her fist on the ground. It created a big hole in the ground.

Ichigo watched from atop a building roof. He stared down at her as a single tear dropped from his chin. It landed on Tatsuki's head. She turned her head and looked up, but saw nothing. Ichigo was truly gone. She tried her hardest not to cry, but a few tears were able to fall. She got up to her feet and wiped the tears away. She walked with her head down and no destination in mind.

"Good-bye… Tatsuki."


	10. Plunge Into Hueco Mundo

"Have you finished saying your good-byes?" Yamasaki asked. He stood outside of Urahara's shop as Ichigo approached him. Urahara stood next to Yamasaki. He had a serious look on his face as Ichigo stopped in front of them. Urahara led them to his underground training area.

He set up the portal and then opened the portal to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo stood there as the portal formed.

"Ichigo." Yamasaki said. He turned to look at him. "Come back alive."

Ichigo nodded as he jumped in. Urahara looked over at Yamasaki. He looked back and nodded.

Ichigo flew through the portal until he was at the exit. He landed in the sandy desert. He stood there looking around before heading off. A strong wind blew though the desert creating a funnel of sand to blow through. It was so loud Ichigo was unable to hear the footsteps behind him.

"Ichigo!" A voice yelled. He turned around and was surprised to see Yamasaki standing there.

"What are you doing here? What about your hollow?" Ichigo asked. Yamasaki walked up to him so that he could hear him better.

"What did you say, now?"

"What about your Hollow?"

"My hollow can't take over me in Hueco Mundo. There is a part of Hueco Mundo I can't enter. There Ziro is waiting. He leading you into a trap, Ichigo." Ichigo stood there staring at him.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked.

"There's a part of Hueco Mundo that is only known about by a few."

"La noche de la muerte." They turned around to see Grimmjow walking towards them. "Hello, Ichigo."

"Grimmjow." He said. Grimmjow grinned as he approached them. "Aww you look so cute." Ichigo joked. He started to pet Grimmjow's head.

"Hey cut that out you bastard!" He growled. Ichigo laughed lightly as Grimmjow let out a deep growl.

"You know about La noche de la muerte?" Yamasaki asked. Grimmjow nodded.

"It's an island surrounded by El agua de quemar. There, hollows grow crazy and lose control of themselves. They start going insane and end up killing each other. You shouldn't go over there, Ichigo. That hollow inside of you will consume your soul." Ichigo gasped, eyes widened.

"If you stay on that island longer than one hour then your hollow will consume you and never let you go." Ichigo looked off into the distant sands. There was a moment of silence before he spoke.

"Take me to the Island, Grimmjow." Grimmjow shook his head as he turned and led them to La noche de la Muerte. Ichigo followed with Yamasaki trailing behind. There was a slight tremble in his hand. He held Rukenai in its sheath.

"_Eratu. I can feel fear in you. Why?" A dark presence appeared. Yamasaki stood there in the middle of a wide open field._

"_Rukenai, you know where we are going. Right?" Suddenly a figure appeared in front of him. It looked just like a Grim Reaper. He held a scythe in his hand. His cloak flew freely in the windless field. A dark hood covered its face. Yamasaki stood there with a grim look in his face. In the distance a gray mist descended on the field._

"_It knows where we are going. It's waiting." Rukenai and Eratu both stared at the mist. A loud moan echoed throughout the field. Yamasaki and Rukenai looked worried as the mist grew nearer._

"_Rukenai, if this is the last time we fight together, it's been a pleasure."_

"_Silence." Rukenai raised its voice, which startled Eratu. "Don't talk like this is the last time we are together." Eratu was taken back by this statement. Rukenai's eyes were now glowing dark red. Eratu grinned before he nodded._

Yamasaki looked ahead. La Noche de la Muerte was up ahead. As they grew nearer and nearer, they felt Ziro's Reiatsu emanating from ahead. Him and Ichigo had a determined look on their faces.

When they reached the banks of the end of Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow turned and walked away. Ichigo was about to ask him where he was going, but he disappeared before leaving. Ichigo and Yamasaki looked at each other and nodded. They jumped into the air and headed to La Noche de la Muerte.

They landed on the shore of the island. The island landscape was a flat shore which led to a mountain. At the top of the mountain, they felt Ziro's Reiatsu. He stood at the very top waiting for them. Ichigo began to run up the mountain.

"Ichigo, wait!" Yamasaki yelled. But, it was too late.

"Devore, Montana!" Just then the ground began to rumble. Ichigo fell backwards as the ground under him began to crack. It formed into a mouth, which started to roar. Ichigo's eyes widened as he jumped into the air.

"Bankai!" He yelled. Ichigo lifted Zangetsu and used Getsuga Tenshou. The ground roared before his attack hit it. Just then it opened its mouth and ate Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo and Yamasaki's eyes widened as the ground chewed the attack. After swallowing it, the mouth roared once more.

Ziro laughed as he looked down from the mountaintop. Ichigo glared at Ziro as he grinned, looking down at Ichigo. Ichigo, now irritated, jumped up to attack Ziro. Ziro had a smirk on his face. Unknown to Ichigo, the ground closed in on him.

"Ichigo look out!" He turned around to hear Yamasaki's voice yelling. Ichigo was frozen with terror. The ground rose up, mouth open, ready to devour Ichigo. Then out of nowhere, Ichigo felt someone push him. He looked over and saw Yamasaki. Ichigo's eyes widened as the mouth circled Yamasaki. He stared over at Ichigo and grinned. Then the mouth closed on him.

"Yamasaki!" Ziro laughed as Ichigo reached out for him. The ground started to rumble as the mouth returned to the base of the mountain. Then it was quiet. The only sound heard was Ziro's evil laugh as Ichigo stood there in complete disbelief.

"Poor soul." Ziro said. "Devoured by the island. How pathetic." Ichigo turned around to face Ziro. He looked up with a fire in his eyes. Jumping up, Ichigo flew over top of Ziro and landed no more than 20 feet away. The top of the mountain was different. Instead of complete darkness, the mountain top was lit by an unknown light. The ground was completely flat and even.

Ichigo clenched Zangetsu tightly as Ziro, who had his back to him this whole time, finally turned around.

"Welcome, Ichigo. Welcome to your worse nightmare." Ziro grinned as he drew his zanpaktou.

"Awaken and kill, Onirusen." Suddenly his zanpaktou started to glow. Ziro was engulfed by dark matter. Ichigo stood still as Ziro neared his transformation. When it was done, the dark matter did not dissipate. Ichigo stood and waited.

"Hello, Ichigo." His voice echoed around Ichigo. He looked around the place trying to find Ziro.

"What are you doing? I'm right here in front of you." Ichigo turned his attention back to the dark matter that stood there. Suddenly two slots opened where his face should be. It had a bright green glow in them. Ziro stood there, Ichigo was sure he was grinning. That irritated him.

He opened his mouth and let out a loud piercing moan. Ichigo looked away in disgust as Ziro started laughing. Suddenly he disappeared. Ichigo grew alert and was able to block the initial attack. Ziro chuckled lightly before disappearing once more. Ichigo looked around him, trying to anticipate the attack. Ziro kept appearing and re-appearing everywhere. Ichigo's eyes began to tire.

He tried really hard to keep focus, but it was futile. His eye lids began closing. Ziro began to laugh. Ichigo's eyes shot open for a second. He let out an attack from his sword, but it was nowhere near Ziro. That was when he knew.

"What's wrong Ichigo? Your eyes getting tired?" Ziro's voice echoed. Ichigo was fed up with it. He jumped up to escape Ziro's trap.

"Bad move!" Ichigo's eyes widened as he turned around. Ziro stood there with the biggest grin on his face. Ichigo had pure fear in his eyes.

"Tears of death, Cry!" Mini blasts of dark Reiatsu shot at Ichigo. They hit like bullets on his spiritual body. Blood spilt from his body as he fell to the ground. He landed on the ground with a sickening thud. He landed on his back, hard. He let out a loud groan of pain. He struggled to get to his feet. Blood dripped from all parts of his body.

He used Zangetsu for leverage as he lifted his body up. Ziro grinned as he disappeared and reappeared above Ichigo. He cocked his leg back. Ichigo rolled on the ground backwards. Blood stained the ground where Ichigo landed. A pool of blood formed around him, soaking his clothes.

Ziro slowly made his way to Ichigo. He still had that grin on his face. Ichigo looked up as he coughed up blood. Ziro stood right above Ichigo looking down at him. Suddenly his eyes shot open. He looked down and stared into the eyes of Ichigo donning his hollow mask.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"


	11. Tatsuki's Frustration

It rained that day. It rained the next day. Also the day after that, it rained. It seems Mother Nature has been crying since the day Ichigo left. Tatsuki stared out her bedroom window. Her cheeks stained were stained with dried up tears. It had been four days since Ichigo left without telling her where he went. She was filled with an overwhelming mix of emotions.

Anger, Confusion, Sadness, Irritated; all these words could describe what Tatsuki felt at the moment. She took what little comfort she could from the dark skies. Everyone knew something was wrong with her, but only few knew the real reason why. People like Orihime, Chad, and Ishida knew what was wrong. Ichigo had disappeared around the time Tatsuki fell into the pit of depression.

Even the students could tell a difference in her demeanor. She cared less about everything. When the teacher called on her to answer a problem she usually just sat there staring out the window. This got her into trouble with the teacher.

When the lunch bell rang, Tatsuki usually wandered off by herself. Most of the time Tatsuki went up to the rooftop and stared out into space. Orihime grew worried. Everytime she tried to cheer up Tatsuki, she just shrugged it off and left her there. Even Sado noticed something different about her. He tried to get to the root of it. After school he caught up to Tatsuki who slowly wandered over to her karate class.

"Tatsuki, wait up." She lazily tilted her head to see Sado nearly jogging to catch up with her. She turned her body to face him. "What's up, Sado?" She asked. She gave a small smile upon her face.

"Is there something you need to talk about?" He asked. It completely surprised Tatsuki. She looked up into his non-emotional face. She needed to talk to someone and get her feelings out. It was not healthy keeping it bottled up inside. She smiled.

"It's about Ichigo." She started. She began to tell him about what happened the day that Ichigo left. She ran by some facts with Sado so she knew he understood what day she was talking about. After telling the story, she felt the urge to cry again. Sado looked on with concern.

"Why are you upset, Tatsuki?"

"Huh?"

"From the looks of it, it sounds like Ichigo is trying to protect you." Sado concluded.

"How? By leaving me in the dark about where he is going?" She exclaimed.

"Yes. Think about it. He knows you have powers and are willing to fight, right?" Tatsuki nodded. "If Ichigo were in a fight with hollows or a Menos Grande you would help him wouldn't you?" Once again Tatsuki nodded.

"Then more than likely, Ichigo is in a place where there are things even stronger than hollows and he felt that you were not strong enough to fight them. He cares about you so much he is willing to leave you in the dark so you don't follow him." Tatsuki looked away. If that was Ichigo's true intension, she wanted to punch him, kick him, or just do something to him.

"Then where do you suppose he went?" She asked. Sado looked away for a second to think about it.

"Well I don't think he went to Soul Society. He must be in Hueco Mu-" He stopped. He looked over at Tatsuki who was listening closely.

"Where now?" She asked. Sado shook his head. He knew what she was trying to do. He almost fell for it. Tatsuki almost got him to reveal the place Ichigo was at. Tatsuki got frustrated. Sado remained silence for the rest of the conversation. Tatsuki turned and walked away. Her plan had almost worked. She went up to Orihime and Ishida, but got nothing. They kept their mouths shut. That irritated Tatsuki.

When school was over, she practically ran out of school. She was irritated with her friends. They knew where Ichigo went, but they were not telling her. Tatsuki hopped into her car and sped off down the road. She drove down the street. She went to the Kurosaki house. Hopefully Isshin could tell her where Ichigo went.

She quickly jumped out of the car and into the house. Isshin was sitting on the couch watching T.V. He didn't move even though she came in loudly. She hesitated for a moment. Then she slowly made her way over to him.

"I knew you would come, Tatsuki." He said. He turned his head to look at her. She looked worried and irritated. Isshin got up from his seat and walked over to her. He could tell she has not been the same since Ichigo left. He felt for her. For Isshin didn't know if Ichigo would make it back, as well. He knew where Ichigo was going and who he was going to face.

"Mr. Kurosaki, sir do you know where Ichigo is? He wasn't in school today and I was won-"

"Cut it out." Isshin said. He had a serious look on his face. "I know where he went." Tatsuki looked up in anticipation.

"He's in a place called Hueco Mundo."

"Hueco Mundo?" She said.

"It's the place where bad souls go to live. It's a world of darkness where hollows come from. They leave there and go to earth to search for souls to eat."

"So Ichigo is in Hueco Mundo?" Isshin nodded. She looked away for a second. Her mind was deep in thought. Isshin knew what she wanted.

"Tatsuki, you know you can't go there." He said. Tatsuki looked even more ticked off.

"Why can't I go there? Ichigo left me without telling me he was going to fight. I want to fight alongside him! It's not fair that he goes and risks his life without letting me go. What if he gets really hurt and can't come back. Why did he have to leave?" By now tears were falling from her eyes. Isshin felt sorry for her.

"Don't worry, Tatsuki. He'll come back." Tatsuki looked up at him. He had a small smile on his face. "Have faith in him." Isshin looked away for a second. He had a worried look on his face.

"_Yamasaki, I need to talk to you." Isshin and Yamasaki stood on top of a building. The night was silent. Yamasaki had his back to Isshin._

"_I know what you want." He simply said. Isshin looked away. He felt selfish of even thinking up the idea._

"_Yamasa-"_

"_Shut up. You know I hate it when you guys apologize. Don't worry. I was planning to go anyways." Yamasaki tried to wave it off. Isshin looked at him with a surprised look._

"_So you really plan to finish it this time?" Isshin asked. Yamasaki looked into the distant skyline in deep thought. Isshin looked away._

"_Just watch over him, make sure he doesn't die." Isshin said. Yamasaki turned around and grinned. Then he disappeared. Isshin stood there staring at the spot Yamasaki stood at. Then he too disappeared and went home._

"Tatsuki, go home. You needn't worry about Ichigo. He'll be ok." Tatsuki looked up at him once more. He gave her a reassuring smile. She took comfort in his smile. Afterwards she got into her car and went home. She was still angry at Ichigo, but not as much anymore.

"Ichigo, come back. She's waiting for you."


	12. Tick Tock byebye Ichigo

Laughter filled the air. It echoed throughout the dark area. Ichigo lay lifelessly on the ground. His eyes were devoid of life. He laid in a pool of his own blood. Cuts, all over his body, were slowly flowing with blood. Ichigo could not move. His vision grew blurry and started fading away. Everything grew dark.

"_Shit."_

Ziro appeared not to far away from Ichigo. He sheathed his zanpaktou and returned to his unreleased form. He looked down at Ichigo's body. He hardly had any Reiatsu left. His breathing was labored.

"You know I am surprised, Ichigo. You survived longer than I expected." Ichigo still laid there. Ziro knelt down and looked into his eyes.

"When you brought out that hollow of yours, I thought you had me there." Ziro chuckled lightly. "Now you're just a lump of spiritual flesh." He rose up to his feet and sent a swift kick into Ichigo's stomach. This caused him to cough up more blood. Ziro knelt down again. Ichigo had a small twitch of life in his eyes. He looked up at Ziro who knelt there grinning at him.

"You have to see yourself right now, Ichigo. You look pathetic." Ziro lightly fell backwards and sat cross legged.

"You know something Ichigo. You want to know why I'm going after the Shinigami King? There is a reason I have the number zero." Ichigo laid there lifelessly, still unable to move.

"I am the Arrancar King." Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. "That's right, Ichigo. I am the Arrancar king. In each world, a king rules over it. I watch over Hueco Mundo while the Shinigami king watches over Soul Society from his dimension. The king of Earth is also in his own dimension watching."

"You know what I just realized, Ichigo?" Ziro had a devilish grin on his face. "You've been on this island for about say 40 minutes or so? You're hollow must be close to devouring your soul completely. You also used his power. So that means you must be really close to being completely devoured." Ichigo thought about it. He could feel his hollow. It was growing stronger and stronger. He noticed it awhile ago, but just now realized it.

Just then Ziro got up and stretched. Then he knelt down once more to stare into Ichigo's eyes.

"Oh yeah I've been meaning to ask you. What is there to do in your town? When I came by 40 years ago, the reason I wanted to destroy it was because it was a boring town. Have you guys done anything to improve that?" Ziro sarcastically said.

"If I remember correctly, you have a… what do you kids call it now a day? Oh yeah, a girlfriend." Ichigo's eyes widened. Life started to return in them. Ziro grinned.

"What was her name? I think it was Tatsi? Taksi? Titsuki? Oh yeah… Arisawa Tatsuki. That's who it is." Ichigo's body began to twitch.

"Ooh. Seems like I hit the jackpot." Ichigo began to shake vigorously. Ziro chuckled lightly. Ichigo slowly wrapped his hand around Zangetsu. He was using all his might just to be able to move his hand. He lifted his arm and thrust his zanpaktou into the ground. He used it for leverage to pick himself up off the ground. He heavily leaned on Zangetsu to hold himself up.

Ziro laughed at him as he walked over to Ichigo. He was breathing hard, dried blood stained his face. But it was covered by fresh blood coming out of his mouth. He fell to one knee as he tried to keep himself up. Just then the sound of a bell filled the area. Ichigo's eyes widened. Ziro had the biggest grin on his face.

"You know what that sound is, Ichigo?" No response. "That sound means you've been here for about an hour now. Can you feel it? I can. It has awakened." Ichigo's eyes widened. Darkness crept up into his eyes. Suddenly pieces of his mask started to form around the left side of his face. He let out a distorted yell as his eyes changed completely. No longer were they dark brown. They were yellow with black eyeballs. Just like when he used the power of his hollow. The mask covered only the left side of his face. It was done.

Tatsuki fell to her knees. She was in her bath tub taking a shower. Her breathing became labored. Her heart was beating so hard, it almost ripped open her chest. She tried to get to a vertical base, but her knees were weak. She reached forward and turned off the shower head. Water dripped from the tips of her hair.

"_Ichigo?"_

H. Ichigo stood there staring at Ziro. They both shared that evil grin.

"Welcome." Ziro said. He bowed. H. Ichigo stood there with that grin. "I bet it feels good to finally have control over Ichigo."

"You have no idea." H. Ichigo said with a smile. "And hello to you too, my king." Ziro watched as he returned the courtesy.

"So now that you have complete control of Ichigo, what do you plan on doing?" Ziro asked. H. Ichigo's grin widened.

"I'm going to make Ichigo watch… as I tear apart his girlfriend Arisawa Tatsuki!" They both began laughing at the idea. Ziro lifted his finger and snapped. Suddenly a portal opened up next to H. Ichigo. From the entrance it led to Karakura town.

Ichigo grinned as he turned to head towards the portal. He slowly made his way to the portal. As he was about to hop in, he suddenly could not move his left leg. H. Ichigo looked down and noticed it was covered in ice. Ziro's eyes glanced down and looked at the ice.

H. Ichigo lifted Zangetsu and crushed the ice. He shook the remains of it off. Then he took a step back to look at the ground. There was nothing. He looked over at Ziro who shrugged his shoulders. H. Ichigo took a step forward, and this time both of his legs froze up. He looked down again and destroyed it again. This time they froze up immediately after he destroyed the ice.

"What the hell?"

Ziro's eyes widened. Suddenly ice surrounded H. Ichigo. He was completely frozen. Ziro looked at the ground around him. Just then the ground began to crack and separate. A huge amount of Reiatsu shot out causing Ziro to take to the sky.

"Crimson Static!" Ziro moved to the side to avoid being hit. He looked at the ground as a figure emerged from beneath. It stood there with his head cast down. Ziro grew irritated. He flew back down to the ground. The figure did not react.

"Hey punk, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Ziro yelled. The figure did not react, smoke still surrounded it. Minutes passed by and it still didn't respond. This made Ziro angry.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." He drew his zanpaktou. "Who the hell are you?"

"Don't tell me you forgot about me…old friend." Ziro's eyes widened in disbelief.


	13. Yamasakis Bankai Total Annihilation

Snow fell from the dark skies. Winter had come upon the town of Karakura. Tatsuki lay in her hospital bed watching the snow. Her side was bandaged up and her forehead. She looked out the window in deep thought. One day a hollow appeared in the park. It was a cold bitter day. She was on her way home, when she sensed a hollow. She went over to the park and found the hollow rampaging through the park.

She decided to fight it. She wanted to take out some of her pent up frustration on it. At first she focused energy into her right leg. The hollow, sensing her Reiatsu, turned towards her direction. She grinned. It wasn't a goofy grin, but a more serious grin. It roared loudly and started running to her. Its mouth was open wide ready to devour her soul. She grinned as she kicked it in the chin. The hollow fell backwards, moaning loudly.

Tatsuki did not kill the hollow quickly. She wanted to alleviate some frustration. The hollow slowly got up and roared. She focused energy in her left fist and then pummeled its back. The hollow fell to the ground with a loud crash. Tatsuki stood there staring at the hollow. It roared loudly at her. Tatsuki grinned again.

She continued relentlessly on the assault, being careful not to destroy the mask just yet. Urahara watched her from afar. He stood in the sky looking down at her. A grim look was on his face. His usual carefree smile was missing. He raised his hand and firmly held onto his hat as he disappeared.

Tatsuki started to finish beating up the hollow. When she stopped to take a breath, the hollow lunged out at her. She moved to the side to avoid most of it, but one of the claws was able to pierce the right side of her stomach. She grimaced in pain and let out a small groan as she held onto her side.

She withdrew her right hand behind her and formed an energy sphere around her fist. As she pulled her fist forward she yelled...

"Axe handle fist!" She slammed her fist hard onto the hollow's bright white mask. As the mask broke, the hollow vanished. Her breathing grew short and labored. As she landed on the ground, she fell to her knees. Blood drops stained the freshly fallen snow beneath her. Her vision grew dark and blurry. Her breathing grew softer and softer. She fell to the ground. Blood slowly formed in a pool around her.

She doesn't recall what happened afterwards, but when she woke up she was lying in a hospital bed.

"_Dam it Ichigo I hate you." _She thought to herself. She looked down at her side, which was now bandaged up. She closed her eyes once more. She started thinking about all the times her and Ichigo hung out together. It brought a small tear to her eye as the sound of laughter echoed in her mind. Urahara stood watch outside the window. He peeked through the window every now and then to check up on Tatsuki. He heard the distant sound of a hollow's roar. He headed out and got rid of the hollow with ease.

There was no sound at all. Complete silence fell upon Hueco Mundo. Eratu and Ziro eyed each other down. Rukenai roared with intensity as Yamasaki held it in his hands. Ziro stood there grinning in his dark matter form. Suddenly, the sound of metal clashing together echoed throughout Hueco Mundo. Following the first clash, the sound of their swords echoed throughout Hueco Mundo.

Hollows everywhere heard the sound. It wasn't too long before the hollows gathered to the island. They stood on the outskirts of the island watching the fight. Ziro and Eratu took a break from their fight. They looked around at all the hollows who stood and watched. They stood in silence watching the two fight. Eratu focused his attention back to Ziro, who did like wise. They continued their battle. H. Ichigo was still frozen, the portal to the real world still stood in front of him. Then it happened.

Yamasaki was caught off guard for only a micro second. Ziro was able to get behind him and strike him in the back of the head. He fell to the ground with a loud crash. Ziro took this time to get the upper hand on him. He started a full frontal assault. Wave after wave of energy blasts flew at Yamasaki. It wasn't long until a huge smoke cloud loomed over the top of the mountain.

"Rukenai… bring your reign upon the wicked!" Ziro flew to the side barely evading the attack. Yamasaki stood there, gasping for air as he stared up at Ziro. He set his arm behind him, fully extending it with Rukenai in its hand. The dark aura around it grew bigger. With determination in his eyes he yelled, "Banka-"

Yamasaki stopped, his hand began shaking. Ziro stopped to. He looked over at Yamasaki suspiciously. Then he realized what was happening. A huge grin lit up on his formless face. He began to laugh. Yamasaki fell to the ground on one knee. Dropping Rukenai next to him, he clutched his stomach gasping for air. He could feel it inside him. The burning sensation inside of him grew hotter. It was almost unbearable.

"BANKAI!" His voice was loud and clear. Ziro stood there with a grin upon his formless face. A dark aura surrounded his body. Suddenly his body was covered with a black cloak. A hood attached to the top and covered Yamasaki's face. His eyes had a dark green glow. Rukenai transformed from a sword into a death scythe. Afterwards, black wings sprouted from his back. They stretched far from side to side. He looked down so the hood covered his head. His hands had gloves on. He held Rukenai firmly in his hand.

"So this is your Bankai form?" Ziro asked. Yamasaki stood still. His body unmoving. His cloak swayed lightly in the wind. He lifted his scythe in the air and slammed the bottom of it on the ground. It caused the earth to crack beneath his feet. Ziro looked down at the ground and then back at Yamasaki. He started to float a couple of inches above the ground. He lifted his head slightly so the glowing eyes appeared to Ziro. It sent a cold chill down his spine.

"I must say, your Bankai is pretty scary. I got a cold chill shot down my spine." Ziro said.

"I'm glad I made an impact on you. I hope I don't disappoint you." He raised the scythe in the air and swung at Ziro. Ziro lifted his sword and blocked against the attack. He looked into Yamasaki's face. A loud roar escaped from Eratu's lips. This startled Ziro. He jumped backwards trying to create distance between them. That chill shot down his spine once more. Yamasaki floated there. His head was cast downward once more. Ziro's hand began trembling. He looked down at his hand. A sense of fear began creeping inside him.

"What's wrong, Ziro Ceroza?" Yamasaki said. His low booming voice rung in Ziro's ear. "I smell fear in your soul." Ziro lightly growled. Yamasaki chuckled softly. The clash of metal echoed once more. Ziro attacked first. He unloaded an assault on Yamasaki. Every attack, though, Eratu easily evaded. Ziro grew angry.

"Why haven't you attacked me? Is your Bankai form only for show? Answer me!" Ziro sounded like he was trying to convince himself and not Eratu. Suddenly Yamasaki pushed Ziro backward with his sword.

"You want to know why, I haven't attacked you?" His blade started glowing. "I have only one attack in my Bankai form." Yamasaki looked up once more. His glowing green eyes sent another chill down Ziro's spine.

"Do you want to see it?" The words replayed in Ziro's head. It angered him.

"Shut up." He lifted his sword in the air and sent an energy blast towards Yamasaki. Eratu lifted his hand and swatted the attack away. Ziro's eyes widened.

"Ziro Ceroza, I will show you my attack." He lifted Rukenai above his head. "Rukenai… total annihilation."


	14. Conclusion

_"Rukenai… Total annihilation."_

Ziro's eyes widened. A beam of light shined down from the sky and engulfed Yamasaki. Ziro tried to attack him, but the ray of light the attack. Ziro growled lightly. He launched attack after attack, but none of them pierced through the ray. He lifted his hand and a spear like object appeared in his hand.

"Pierce and break!" He threw the spear at the beam. Yamasaki stood there and watched as the spear disintegrated upon touching the light. Though his face was hidden by his hood, one could tell he was grinning.

"Ziro Ceroza. Judgment has been passed upon your soul. For destroying the town of Karakura forty years ago, you have been found… guilty." Suddenly a pair of cuffs appeared from the ground beneath him. They attached themselves onto his wrists and kept him down. He tried to forcible remove them, but they wouldn't release him. He looked up at Yamasaki who now had his hood down, revealing his face to be a skull with glowing green eyes. The essence of a true grim reaper.

Ziro felt that fear once more. This time it escalated when the situation finally struck him. Yamasaki stood there holding his scythe next to him. Suddenly the blade started to glow. The light it shone emanated throughout Hueco Mundo. Ziro was frozen. He couldn't move a muscle.

"Ziro Ceroza, I sentence you to… death." His eyes widened once more. Suddenly the beam of light disappeared. The only thing glow was the blade on the scythe. "Rukenai, Pass judgment on the wicked." He lifted the blade in the air. Ziro's eyes followed it with fear. Through his eyes, the scythe got bigger and bigger. In one fell swoop it was over.

Ziro's body fell with a loud thud. Off rolled the detached part to the side. Yamasaki lowered his scythe. He turned and faced the multitude of hollows that gathered at the mountain base. He lifted the scythe once more.

"Rukenai, pass judgments on the wicked." He lowered his scythe and in that instant all of the hollows were gone. Every single one of them were gone, dead. He turned his body and directed his attention towards H. Ichigo. He was still frozen in the ice Yamasaki put him in. He lifted his scythe in the air. With one swoop, he shattered the ice. Along with the ice, Ichigo's mask shattered. He fell to the ground gasping for air.

His head immediately shot up when he saw the cape lightly swaying in front of him. He grew a little scared when he looked into the face of a skull with glowing eyes. He jumped up and scooted as far away as he could. Yamasaki stood there with a lost expression on his skeletal face. Ichigo's teeth chattered and knees knocked together. When Yamasaki took one step towards him, Ichigo screamed like a girl.

"Calm down! It's me." After saying this Yamasaki reverted Rukenai back to his shikai form. After it reverted back, he put Rukenai back into the scabbard. Ichigo let out a loud sigh when he saw Yamasaki's familiar face. They jumped through the portal together and landed in the real world, outside Ichigo's house. Yamasaki waved before heading off.

Ichigo walked over to his window. He jumped up and slid the window open. After hopping inside, he patted his clothing looking around for his body. He noticed it was right where he left it, on his bed positioned to look like he was sleeping. Just as he was about to hop back into his body, he heard the closet door swing open.

He swung his body around and saw Rukia staring at him, she had a look of relief in her eyes when she saw him standing there.

"Ichigo, where have you been?!" She asked loudly. Her look of relief turned to near anger. She was mad at him. Ichigo smiled as he turned around and jumped back into his body. He sat up and hopped out of bed. The first thing he did was stretch. He stretched his arms and body. Suddenly Rukia looked away, distressed.

"Tatsuki is in the hospital." She said in a near whisper. Ichigo's attitude did a complete 180. He went from happy and carefree to worry.

"What did you say?" He said. His voice nearly trembling. Rukia told Ichigo what had been happening to Tatsuki in the past week. Ichigo stood there in shock.

_"What have I done?"_ Suddenly, Ichigo went to his window and slid it open. As he got one foot on the windowsill, Rukia yelled after him.

"Where are you going?!" She asked.

"I'm going to see Tatsuki!" He yelled back. He jumped out the window and landed quietly on the ground. Rukia ran to the window and stuck her head out.

"Wait, Ichigo. How are you going to find her?"

"I can sense her Reiatsu." He yelled as he ran down the street. Rukia looked on for a moment before she put one foot on the windowsill, ready to chase after him.

"Let him go." A voice called out from behind her. "He needs to be with her now." Rukia turned around to see Isshin standing there. A small grin was on his face. Rukia stepped down with an understanding smile. Ichigo ran down the streets towards the hospital. Nothing was on his mind except for Tatsuki.

Just then he came up with an idea. He reached down and grabbed his shinigami badge. He reverted back to his shinigami form. He picked up his body and carried it as he jumped into the air and flew the rest of the way. When he arrived at the hospital, he landed on the roof before entering back into his body.

Ichigo quickly ran down the stairs to the floor where he felt Tatsuki's presence the greatest. He moved up and down the hallways rather quickly searching for the room that held the women he'd been searching for. When he found the room where he felt Tatsuki's Reiatsu the most, he stood outside the room for the longest time.

He reached out slowly and placed his hand on the door handle. Quietly he turned the knob and lightly pushed the door open. He took a step into the room. It was dark and cool. He could barely make out the silhouette of Tatsuki's body lying on one of the beds. He walked over to where she slept. He fumbled around on the wall near her for a switch. When he found it, he quickly flipped it on. The bright light illuminated the bed and the area around it.

Ichigo was now able to see her now pale face. Her cheeks had lost most of its color. He was saddened as he ran a finger down her cool cheek. This caused Tatsuki to lightly stir in her sleep. She moaned softly as she tossed lightly in her bed. Ichigo smiled as he felt himself welling up. It was almost uncharacteristic for Ichigo to cry. A single tear rolled down his cheek. Falling, the tear splashed onto Tatsuki's cheek.

"I'm sorry Tatsuki. You got hurt because of me." His voice cracked. He took her hand into his and lightly caressed it with his fingers. "I wasn't here to protect you. And now…" His lower lip started to quiver. Another tear fell from his cheek. This time it rolled off and fell onto her eye.

Suddenly Tatsuki's eye started to twitch. She slowly opened her eyes, vision still blurry. Ichigo, noticing this, quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. As she regained her vision, she looked over and was face to face with an elated Ichigo. Tatsuki smiled as she reached out and cupped his cheek. He reached up and placed his hand on hers. Now it was Tatsuki's turn to cry. She whimpered lightly as tears fell from her eyes.

"Hey." She said softly. Ichigo smiled once more.

"Hey yourself." He chuckled lightly. "Tatsuki, I just want to say I'm sor-" He was interrupted by Tatsuki, who placed a finger on his lips.

"Shh. You're ruining the moment… again." She pulled his head down and for that moment, nothing else seemed to matter. There two lifelong friends turned lovers shared a moment of silence locked in each other's embrace and loving kiss.

A figure stood outside the hospital looking through the window with a smile.

"You know it's impolite to spy." A voice called. The figure turned around with a grin.

"It's also impolite to sneak up on someone like that, Yamasaki." Eratu emerged from the shadows grinning.

"How is he, Urahara?" Yamasaki asked.

"He came just in time. Another moment sooner and I would've had to intervene." Urahara said.

"Was she that close to converting?" Urahara nodded.

"Let's keep an eye on her." Yamasaki said. "Just in case the boy does something stupid, and angers her into awakens her inner power." Urahara nodded as they disappeared into the night, leaving the two to share in their bliss alone.

**END **


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